To Mend A Broken Heart
by PharaohsThrone
Summary: After Yami finds his girlfriend sleeping with another man, he is convinced that love can only destroy a person. Then he meets Yugi, a forever optimistic boy who is hellbent on pulling Yami out of his depression, despite his own problems. Will Yugi be able to convince Yami that there is hope for love still? (Puzzleshipping)
1. Chapter 1 - Shattered

**To Mend A Broken Heart**

**Chapter 1 - Shattered**

Yami looked up at the apartment building in front of him, he was on his way to visit his girlfriend, Briana. He had wanted to take her out tonight, but she had told him she needed to study for her upcoming uni exams. So instead, he had decided to pay her a surprise visit to ease the pain of studying. Holding a bouquet of flowers in one hand and a box of her favourite chocolates in the other, he walked into the building. Yes, it was corny and soppy for him to be arriving with flowers and chocolates, but Bri loved it. As he stood in the elevator, waiting for it to ascend to her level on the top floor, he idly thought about the past 11 and a half months of their relationship. He was very excited, because their one year anniversary was only two weeks away, and he had something great planned as a surprise. He had met Briana just over a year ago, when her car had broken down on the side of the road. He had stopped to help her, and upon realising how intriguing she was, he had asked her to dinner, and now they had been together for almost a year. He smiled to himself, never before had he felt such strong feelings towards someone, and he knew he was in love with this girl. Right now, he was the happiest man on the planet. His smile faded slightly as he remembered the only thing that ruined it.

_Austin. _

Austin was a friend of Bri's from school, and the two men did not get along at all. From the day they had met there was constant tension, and it was very clear they did not like each other.

Yami still remembered the first words Austin said when they had met. He had turned to Bri and said _"This is your boyfriend? What were you on when you decided to date a loser like this?" _and from that moment on, Yami knew he would never get Austin's approval.

Austin was quite a big guy, with an endomorph body he was built like a tank, and acted like one too. His ego was as big as his biceps, and he never failed to show them off. A 'chick magnet' as he called himself, he would constantly brag about how many girls he woke up next to each sunday morning after whatever wild party he'd had the night before. Whenever Bri and Yami would come across Austin, the bigger man would look down his nose at Yami and say something like: _"geez are you still here?" _

Austin was constantly finding new ways of criticizing Yami also, whether it be about his fashion, music taste, body shape or even choice of study. Yami was an ectomorph, which meant he was quite the opposite to Austin's body type. He was slimmer, and more elegantly designed, and Austin would always call him a scrawny midget. He was neither of those things however, Yami was only short compared to Austin, he also spent countless hours in the gym each week, and not for nothing either. He was quite shredded, but being an ectomorph meant it was harder to get big. He didn't mind though, he was slim but fit, and Bri liked that.

The thing that bothered him most about Austin however, were his remarks regarding their sex life. Yami and Briana hadn't done the deed yet, simply because they wanted to wait for the one year mark so that it would be special. Austin would come to the conclusion that Yami must be terrible in the bedroom or simply didn't have big enough 'assets' to please Bri. This angered Yami every time Austin would bring it up, and would have to restrain himself from putting his fist in Austin's jaw. But no matter how much Austin bugged him, Yami was never rude to him, because Austin was Briana's best friend, and so Yami tolerated the man to make her happy. He always wondered why Briana befriended such an immature jerk, and to this day, he still didn't know.

He sighed and shook his head, he couldn't let Austin bother him when the man wasn't even around, that would just end badly. Putting a smile on his face, yami walked out of the lift and into the corridor, heading for Bri's apartment. He could hear loud music coming from somewhere and became quite confused. Briana's apartment building wasn't known for having wild parties, unless someone new had just moved in on her level. He reached her door near the end of the corridor, and stood in front of it with a bewildered expression. It was _her _apartment that the music was coming from, he could feel the bass pounding through the floor beneath his feet. He didn't bother to knock, and opened the door, not being surprised to find it was unlocked. Inside, there were many party goers filling Bri's lounge area, as music blasted through the speakers, and a set of colourful lights hung sloppily from a hook in the roof. The apartment flashed red, blue, green and yellow, and Yami just stared at it all. What was going on?

"Briana?" he called out, making his way through the crowd. "Bri? Where are you?" He received some odd looks as he walked through the party holding a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates, so he made his way to the kitchen. He poked his head through the door and only found a group of kids mixing drinks on the bench. He sighed, and continued down the hallway to Briana's room. There were already conflicting thoughts in his head, as he wondered why Bri's apartment was filled with drunk people that he had never seen before.

He finally made his way to Briana's room, and pushed the door open, "Bri, are you in here?" he asked, looking away from the party and into the room. When his eyes rested on the inside of Briana's room however, he froze in horror. There were two sets of legs protruding out from the blankets on Bri's bed, one of them unmistakably hers. She was moaning in pleasure, her face hidden from view by the man that was on top of her, butt naked.

"_Austin..._" she moaned as the man thrusted into her.

Yami's face paled, as he stood, frozen at the scene in front of him. He was in such shock he didn't know what emotion he was feeling, but it was overwhelming him.

"Oh god," he said, his eyes wide in horror as he covered his mouth. The two had heard him, and they stopped abruptly, as Bri let out a startled noise, trying to cover herself with the blankets. She then saw who it was who had walked in on them, and gasped.

"Yami..." she said, shocked. "I..."

If she was going to say more, Yami wouldn't have known, because he turned and left the room swiftly, feeling sick to his stomach. He ran back through the apartment, still holding the bouquet of flowers in his hand, and he pushed past the drunken party goers, his only purpose to get as far away from there as possible. He burst into the corridor, and stumbled over to the elevator as his emotions started to catch up with him, as what he had just witnessed sank in. He stubbornly pushed them down however, willing them to go away, but they bubbled inside him like a volcano waiting to erupt.

The elevator opened and he punched in the number of the ground floor, and as the elevator descended, he balled his hands into fists, as the scene flashed at the front of his mind. He finally couldn't take it anymore, and he let out a cry of despair, punching the elevator wall before it reached the bottom, as he burst into tears. He reached the ground floor, and ran out, tears streaming down his face as he did so, not having any idea where he was going. He finally reached a park, and ran over to the lake that sat in the middle. He stopped in front of it, trembling and breathing heavily, and he hunched over, resting his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath, his vision now blurred. He stared down at his reflection in the water, the same look of despair being reflected back at him.

_All I've ever done is love her and care for her, _he thought as his tears dropped down into the water, _where did I go wrong?_ He stood back up and let out a cry of rage and despair, causing all the birds in the trees nearby to retreat.

_I'm done with women, love does nothing but destroy you._

* * *

There you go guys, a puzzleshipping fic that isnt a one-shot :P I've been wanting to write one, so i decided to start it despite the fact i now have 3 stories to write . but it's all good, I have no life so it should be a piece of cake :D

anyway, here's a little broken hearted Yami for you, I'm sorry i had to. (so not sorry)

I just wanted Yugi to save the day, so be prepared for when they meet in the next chapter! :D

Hope you like it!

PharaohsThrone :)


	2. Chapter 2 - The Lovely Stranger

**Chapter 2 - The Lovely Stranger**

Yugi was slowly making his way back home, after one of the most terrifying experiences of his life. He had no choice though, his Grandpa needed his help and he wasn't going to let him down, no matter what. He had to admit, the experience didn't turn out as bad as he originally thought, but he stilled wished that it didn't need to come to this, but he had no other option.

He wrapped his jacket around himself as he walked, the nights were starting to get colder as it was getting closer to winter. He dreaded coming home to the cold, empty house, but he had to deal with it and keep moving forwards, otherwise he and his grandpa wouldn't get anywhere. He reached the park and walked over to the carefully lit pathway so that he could actually see where he was going. This park was quite big, home to a large lake that sat in the middle of it. During the day it would be filled with ducks and other wildlife, but now as Yugi looked down into the water, he saw nothing but his own reflection in the dark surface.

Something interrupted the view of his face in the water however. Confused, Yugi noticed a flower petal floating by. As there were no flowers near the lake, Yugi was quite bewildered. He noticed there were a trail of petals floating through the water towards him, and his eyes followed the trail until he looked up and saw a figure standing at the lake just ahead of him. In front of the man, a large bouquet of flowers sat in the lake, left to slowly float away and disintegrate in the water. This intrigued Yugi, and he watched as the man turned around, with one hand balled into a fist, and a small box in the other. With a cry of rage, he threw the box at a nearby tree, and it broke open, as a shower of small wrapped objects busted out of it and fell to the ground.

_Was that a box of chocolates? _Yugi thought to himself.

Trembling, the man then fell to his knees, and started punching the ground in front of him with both hands, one after the other. Once his spell of rage had passed however, he sat back and pulled his knees up to his chest, as his body trembled. Yugi could only just hear the sobs coming from his lips.

He felt terribly sorry for the man, and would hate to see anybody in such a state. So, thanks to his good nature, Yugi sighed and slowly walked over to the stranger. He had his bead buried in his knees, and as Yugi carefully approached the man and sat next to him, he looked up, confused.

"Hey, are you alright?" Yugi asked him.

Yami tried to wipe his eyes to clear his vision, but to no prevail, so he just said, "Why do you care, you're a stranger," he retorted.

Yugi was surprised by his tone. He took in the features of the strange man. He was slim, but very well built, and he could see where the man's jacket hugged his biceps. His face was strong and bold, but elegant at the same, and Yugi thought that a person such as he could never look as vulnerable as he did right now.

Yugi shrugged, "I don't like seeing people upset."

"Well then maybe you should leave," Yami said none too kindly. There was no way he would cheer up soon, so there was no point in the kid being there if he didn't like seeing people upset.

Yugi watched as the man stared out at the lake, tears still streaming down his face. _Well, it was worth a try, _he thought. "Alright, fine," he said with a sigh, "I was just trying to help." He stood up, "I'll leave you to your sorrow then..." he turned to leave, and Yami scolded himself for being so rude.

"No, wait." Yugi stopped, turning back to him. Yami looked out in front of him as he spoke. "Stay, please. It'd be nice to have some company."

Smiling sympathetically at the man's back, Yugi walked back over, sitting next to him again.

"I'm sorry," Yami said, "I understand you're trying to be nice, I'm just angry and confused and upset and I just..." he trailed off, and then sighed. "I don't know what to believe anymore." He finally wiped the last of his tears away, content that he'd cried enough for one evening. He was very glad for the presence of the lovely stranger, otherwise he would have felt alone, and may not have ben able to stop the tears from falling. He didn't feel like much of a man right now, and he guessed that at this point, everything Austin ever said about him was probably true. _I'm just a weak, useless, pathetic excuse for a boyfriend. Why else would Bri do that to me? I mustn't be good enough. _

"Well what is it that's made you so upset?" Yugi asked.

Yami sighed, not wanting to recount the events prior. As he thought back to that moment when he walked into Briana's room, his chest tightened.

"Sometimes it helps to talk about it," Yugi added. This was quite true, Yami realised. He also knew that it was easier when the person you're talking to is a stranger, so this was perfect.

He sighed, looking down into the water in front of him, "I just walked in on my girlfriend having sex with another man." Each word felt like a dagger in his chest, and he grabbed his shirt just over his heart, willing the pain to go away.

Yugi's eyes widened, "Ouch."

"Yeah," Yami said miserably, "What makes it worse is the guy is a complete asshole," he picked up a stone and threw it into the lake as he spoke.

"Did you know him?" Yugi asked.

Yami nodded, "And he's known her longer than I have. He's an old friend of hers from school, but he was always a dick to me. I guess now I think I know why."

"You think he just wanted her for himself?" Yugi asked.

"I don't know," Yami said with a shrug, "But he was always telling Briana how I wasn't good enough for her, and I guess she finally realised that."

"Oh come on, don't tell me you're going to believe that," Yugi said, sitting back so he was leaning on his arms casually.

Yami was surprised by the boy's reply, "What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know anything about your relationship, but you had flowers and chocolates for her just then didn't you?" Yami nodded. "Isn't that what every girl wants?"

Yami sighed and shook his head, the hint of a smile on the edge of his lips. "You obviously haven't been in a relationship before," he said, finally relaxing a bit. He released his arms from around his knees and mirrored Yugi, sitting back with his arms supporting him.

"For a matter of fact I have," Yugi said. He hesitated, but then added, "Though not with a girl, so I wouldn't know."

Yami was quite surprised to hear this, but he chuckled, "I see. Well girls are quite hard to please, I'm afraid. Then again, I don't know what it's like to date a man."

"Then we're even," Yugi said. He then looked at his watch, "Oops, I have to get going," he said, getting up. "I hope you're feeling better," he said with a smile.

Yami returned the smile, "I am, thank you." Yugi smiled and turned to leave. "Hey, wait!" Yami called out. The boy stopped and turned back to him. "Can I know your name?"

"Call me Yugi," he said with a smile, before turning and heading off into the shadows.

_Yugi..._Yami thought, _I think I just met the nicest person on the planet._

* * *

BAM and there's chapter 2 :D

So Yugi's unexpected arrival helps to cheer yami up a bit, but for how long?

And so we wait for when they meet again...

*chuckles* this is fun XD apart from the whole making Yami suffer thing (or is it?) I dunno, but meh.

Hope you guys are liking it so far! I'm always open to whatever comments you may have :)

Stay classy ;)

PharaohsThrone


	3. Chapter 3 - The Aftermath

**Chapter 3 - The Aftermath**

Yami was awoken the next morning by his alarm clock blaring from his bedside table. With his head pounding, he groaned and rolled over, looking at the time: 7am.

"Fuck that," he muttered, turning it off and rolling back over. Last night after Yugi had left, Yami had thought he felt alright, but he was oh so wrong. After a few minutes, the pain came back, and he had felt more alone than ever. He spent the rest of the night just aimlessly wandering through the streets, not wanting to go anywhere in particular, especially home. He had many pictures of Bri and him together all over his apartment, and he just didn't want to see that.

At one point he had found himself at a bar, of all places. He wasn't very fond of the taste of alcohol, and therefore wasn't a drinker, but somehow he found himself sitting at the bar ordering his 7th beer. It tasted horrible to drink, but he wasn't after the taste. He had heard of many poeple 'drinking their sorrows away', so he thought he'd give it a try, drowning his despair in each drink he ordered. After the bar tender refused to serve him any more, saying that he had had too much to drink already, he stumbled home, feeling worse than he had when he walked into the bar.

As soon as he had set foot in his apartment, tears started streaming down his face. He had forgotten about all the photos of Bri he had in his apartment. In a fit of rage, he had thrown the photo frames onto the ground, each of them smashing and scattering glass everywhere. He had then collapsed on his bed, still in his clothes, and cried himself to sleep.

Yami knew that he had uni today, but he didn't care. He had never felt worse in his entire life than he did at this moment, physically and emotionally. So, he decided to sleep the day away, hoping that his dreams would bring him refuge.

Sadly, they did not.

...

_Yami made his way through the crowd of people dancing and drinking, utterly confused at his surroundings. Why were all these people in Bri's apartment? He pushed past everybody, careful not to bruise the flowers he held, and made his way into the hallway, calling out Bri's name. Where was she? He approached her room, as a familiar nausea started bubbling in his stomach. Somehow he knew what was coming, but he couldn't stop himself from walking up to her door and carefully pushing it open. He bit his lip, his hands stiff at his sides, and froze when the room was revealed. _

Not Again, _he thought with a horrible realisation. Austin turned to him, an arrogant smirk plastered on his face. "Like the sight of me doing your girl?" he snarled. Yami would have walked up to him and punched him right then and there, if it weren't for the smirk that Bri had on her face. He felt like he was going to throw up. He turned and ran through the apartment, trying to escape, but there were too many people around, and he didn't know which way to go to get out. He turned numerous corners, coming to a dead end in the form of people each way he went, he couldn't get out. He was surrounded by drunken idiots, who appeared to be unfazed by his presence. He wanted out so badly, but there was nowhere to go. Finally giving in, he collapsed, feeling the pain in his chest as his heart ached. He curled into a ball on the ground as the party goers continued to cause a riot around him, stepping on his flowers, squishing them into the carpet. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing the pain to go away, he didn't want to feel the pain of love anymore, he wanted out, he didn't want to feel anything at all. He never wanted to love again. _

_"How pathetic," he heard Austin's voice in his ear, "You were actually in love with her?" He snickered, "she never loved you, she's mine now." _

_..._

"Yami!"

He woke up and found himself being shook violently by someone. As an instinctual reaction, his fist collided with their jaw, causing them to stumble back. When the shock of his dream and then being suddenly awoken passed, Yami looked over and saw Joey standing back from his bed. He was staring at Yami wide-eyed, his hand on his jaw where Yami had just punched him. He looked at the clock: 3:16pm.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Joey said. Yami blinked, trying to ignore the pounding headache he had, and the stress that his nightmare had caused.

"I..." he started to say, but he just sighed and shook his head, lying back down on the bed with his back to Joey.

"Yami," Joey came over and pulled the covers off of him, "What the hell is going on? You weren't at Uni this morning, your apartment is a wreck, and I find you here looking like you have a hangover and you fucking punch me?!"

Yami just replied by groaning a, "Go away."

"No," Joey persisted, before walking over to the window and pulling the curtains open.

Yami flinched and squeezed his eyes shut as light filtered into the room, "What the hell Joey?" he groaned.

"I'm not leaving until I get some answers," Joey said. "Now why the hell do you look hungover you said you don't drink."

"Yeah and Bri said she doesn't cheat," he said bitterly, before noticing there was another picture frame on his bedside table of the two of them together. He threw it to the ground, and it smashed into billions of tiny pieces.

"Whoa, whoa," Joey said, trying to avoid the flying pieces of glass, "Calm the hell down, what did you just say?"

"Briana cheated on me," he said bluntly in a dead tone, before rolling back over, pulling the pillow over his head.

"Oh geez," Joey said, running a hand through his hair, "I'm sorry man." He thought for a moment, "Wait, that still doesn't answer why you're hung over, you don't drink."

Yami shrugged, "thought I'd give it a try," he mumbled into the pillow.

"Yeah, and how do you feel now?" Joey asked, knowing what the answer would be.

"Like I was spat out of hell," he said bluntly. "Now go away and let me be miserable."

"Not happening," Joey said, "I'm gonna be the good buddy I am and help you clean up this apartment."

"You do that," Yami muttered.

Joey sighed, "Come on," and he dragged Yami off of the bed, as the other tried to grab the bed post to stop him, but he was already too far away, and he landed on the floor with a thud. He glared up at Joey.

"Come on man," Joey said, "You can't just mope around in your bed all day, that's no good for you."

Yami was about to throw back a retort when his pocket started vibrating. He pulled his phone out and looked at the screen.

_'Incoming call from: Briana'_

He stared at the phone, unsure of what to do, as his chest tightened.

"What? Who is it?" Joey asked, seeing Yami's reaction.

"It's her," he said, staring at the phone.

"Here," Joey said, taking the phone from him. He answered it, "Yami's phone, what do you want?"

The voice on the other end didn't sound like she was distraught at all, _"Is he there? I just want to talk to him." _

"Yeah, well he doesn't want to talk to you," Joey said bluntly.

_"Says you, let him speak for himself,"_ she retorted.

"Look, you broke his fucking heart, now leave him alone," Joey said.

_"Fine,"_ she spat, _"Can I have my scarf back then?"_

"Heh?" Joey looked at Yami, "What scarf?" he asked him.

Yami growled, standing up and walking to his wardrobe, before pulling out a scarf that Joey had seen him wear quite a few times. Without taking another look at it, Yami threw it out the window. It had been a present that Briana had gotten him for his birthday. She had originally said she would have kept it for herself if she didn't have him in mind when buying it.

"Well," Joey said, talking into the phone again, "He just threw it out the window, so good luck finding it."

Bri made a frustrated noise on the other end, _"Fine, want to play it that way? I've been with Austin for over a month,_" and she hung up.

* * *

tada! Joey made an appearance :D

and no I'm afraid Yugi wasn't in this chapter, but he is in the next one so don't you worry your little heads :P

I have to say it is kind of hard to write heartbroken Yami, cause I don't know how he would react, so I'm hoping that its somewhere along the right lines :P if not, meh, its my story XD

Hoe you guys liked this chapter, the next one should be up soon :) (I wrote heaps on the train to uni this morning XD)

Stay classy ;)

PharaohsThrone


	4. Chapter 4 - Picking Up The Pieces

**Chapter 4 - Picking Up The Pieces**

Yami stood leaning against the wall, a strained expression on his face. Joey sighed, and threw his phone into the bed, not quite sure what to say.

"Come on buddy," Joey said after a moment of silence, "I'll make you some pancakes and we can clean this mess up, huh?"

Yami attempted a smile, but nodded, and started to trudge out of his room, walking bare footed over the broken glass.

"Whoa," Joey said, "Careful, you're gonna cut yourself if you do that."

Yami shrugged, "So be it."

Joey sighed, he felt sorry for Yami, and although it was difficult, he had to keep persisting, because he didn't have anybody else. Joey was the only friend that Yami had. He was the first person he met at uni, and seems he was with Bri all the time, he hadn't made the effort to make any other friends. Joey wished he had, cause trying to cheer him up all on his own would be a hard task. Joey followed him out and as Yami dumped himself on the couch, Joey walked into the kitchen, looking through the cupboards.

"Why do you have like, no food?" he asked, turning around to look at Yami on the couch.

Yami shrugged, "Haven't gone shopping."

"Well that helps," Joey said sarcastically. He continued to look through the cupboard, "Bingo, pancake mix," he pulled it out and started making 'chef Joey' jokes as he turned the kitchen into a pancake mess. "Coffee?" he asked Yami, pointing to his small coffee machine on the bench.

"That sounds like a good idea," Yami said, standing up and heading over to make himself a mug. While the machine was doing it's thing, he sighed, leaning on the bench, "I'm sorry Joey," he said.

"It's alright buddy," Joey said, patting him on the back. "We'll get you back to normal in no time." Yami's behaviour had been quite a surprise to Joey, because he was always so polite and upbeat about everything. It was as if last night's events had just caused him to have a total disregard for everything, including his own health.

After they'd eaten the pancakes and downed their coffee, Yami was feeling slightly better. The food had filled him up and the coffee had woken him up, but he still had a pounding headache. They decided to clean up the mess he had made the night before when he smashed all the photo frames so they they couldn't stand on any more glass. Yami lifted up a photo frame and his chest tightened, looking at the photo. It was from Bri's birthday a few months ago, when he had taken her to the fanciest restaurant he could think of. They had gotten the waiter to take a photo for them, and he stared down at it. He was kissing her on the cheek as she smiled that adorable smile that he had loved.

_"She never loved you..." _Austin's words from his nightmare floated through his head, and he had to restrain himself from throwing the photo across the room. He dumped it in the plastic bag he was holding, before picking up the shattered pieces of glass that sat on the floor. He cursed many times at he clumsily picked them up, and they cut at the skin on his hands. Eventually, he and Joey had cleaned up the apartment, and Joey looked at his watch.

"Crap," he said, "I was meant to be meeting a friend 15 minutes ago..." he turned to Yami, "Okay, we'll continue operation cheer up Yami tomorrow, for now just, I dunno put on happy music or watch a funny movie, something to keep your mind off of it."

Yami nodded, "Thank you Joey."

"No worries bud," he said with a grin, "I'll see you tomorrow!" and with one last smile over his shoulder, he left the apartment to go meet his friend.

...

Yugi sat at the counter of the game shop, tapping his fingers on the glass. His grandpa wasn't there at the moment, so he had to look after the shop temporarily. He looked at the clock: 5:01pm.

"Well, time to close up..." he said, getting up and walking over to the door. Just as he was closing it, a foot stepped in the door. He looked up in confusion, "Oh, hey Joey."

"Hey Yug," he said, "sorry I'm late, something unexpected came up."

"That's alright," Yugi let him in, and closed the door behind him, turning the sign on the door to 'closed'. "I really appreciate you coming, I don't very much like staying here alone."

"It's no worries bud," Joey said, ruffling the boys hair. They walked into the kitchen and raided Yugi's pantry, though Joey wasn't that hungry.

"Nah," Joey said, as Yugi held out the packet of chips, "just had pancakes."

"Pancakes? At 5 in the afternoon?" Yugi asked.

"Yeah, it was breakfast, but not for me." Yugi shrugged as Joey looked in the fridge for something to drink. "So what have you been up to?" Joey asked him.

"Not much really," Yugi said.

"Where were you last night? I tried calling but there was no answer," Joey said, pulling a can of soft drink out of the fridge.

"Oh, I was uh..." he thought for a moment, "I just went for a walk and ran into someone."

"Who?" Joey asked.

"Oh, nobody I knew, but he seemed pretty upset so I gave him some company," Yugi said, munching on the chips. Joey raised an eyebrow. "Come on, you know me, I can't stand seeing people upset." Joey nodded, "So I went over and asked him if he was okay. Poor guy, walked in on his girlfriend cheating on him."

Joey placed his drink down, "And this was last night you say?" he asked. Yugi nodded. "What was his name?"

Yugi shrugged, "Don't know, I'm pretty sure the girlfriend was named Briana or something though." Joey had a look of realisation on his face. "What, do you know him?" Yugi asked.

"Yeah I know him," Joey said, "he was the reason I was late."

* * *

tada! Turns out Joey is the connecting soul in this love traingle XD

well...its not really a triangle...

...and its not really love...

_yet _:D

be prepared: Yami and Yugi meet again in the next chapter! :D

Stay classy ;)

PharaohsThrone


	5. Chapter 5 - The Stranger Returns

**Chapter 5 - The Stranger Returns**

Yami sighed, placing his game controller on the ground. It was the next day, and he was actively trying to occupy himself with various things. He'd pulled out his old acoustic guitar and tried to learn a few songs (although since he hadn't played it in a few months he wasn't very good). He'd also sorted out his Duel Monsters cards, deciding which ones he wanted in his main deck. He hadn't touched those in a while, either. Briana hadn't been a fan of the card game, or his guitar skills, or video games for that matter. Yami sat back and realised he'd been doing all the things that Bri didn't like, and thus hadn't done for ages. He almost smiled at the thought of being able to enjoy these things again, but once again he felt the pain in his chest from the thought of Briana. He sighed, this would be much easier if he had more friends, he thought. He was fine with living by himself when he had Bri, because he'd spend half his time at her house. But now, as he sat on his couch, only able to hear the sound of the video game's music at low volume, he realised how empty his apartment felt without anybody else there. He stood up and decided to make himself another cup of coffee. Walking over to the machine, he punched in the right buttons, and placed his mug underneath, waiting for it to brew. Unfortunately, all the machine did was sputter and complain, before giving up.

Yami sighed, _Brilliant, now I need a new coffee machine. _Instead, he turned the kettle on and decided to make it the old fashioned way (which actually wasn't _that_ old fashioned). He turned and leaned against the kitchen bench, as his thoughts of Briana plagued his mind. He shook his head, searching for a distraction. The Kettle had finished boiling, so he turned and swiftly poured the water into his mug. He stared out the window, desperately trying to think of something that could take his mind off of Briana.

He was cut off from his thoughts when he felt a searing pain on his hand, he had started pouring the boiling water on his hand instead of into the cup. He cursed loudly, and dropped the kettle back onto the bench, knocking over his mug in the process. It hit the floor and shattered, as he continued to curse, cradling his burning hand.

"God dammit," he muttered as his hand burned, turning a bright red.

"Yami?" he heard Joey's voice from the front door.

"Yeah, in here," he said, trying to clumsily gather the broken bits of the mug on the floor into a pile with his foot.

"What on earth are you doing?" he heard Joey say from behind him.

"I poured boiling water on myself," he said with a sigh, kicking the bits of mug to the side.

"Why did you do that?!" Joey said, sounding like he was getting tired of Yami's stupid decisions.

"It wasn't on purpose-" Yami turned around, and stopped when he saw that Joey wasn't alone. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw the lovely stranger standing next to Joey, a friendly smile on his face. "Yugi?"

"Hi Yami," he said. Yami wondered if he ever didn't sound friendly. He looked between the two of them with a confused look on his face.

Joey laughed, "Confused? Yugi and I have been buds since high school!" he ruffled the boy's hair, who battered him away with a laugh.

"I thought I'd help him deal with you," Yugi said jokingly. Yami almost smiled at the boy's generosity. Yugi then noticed the angry red mark on Yami's hand, "What on earth did you do to yourself?" he asked.

Yami could now feel the blood flowing through his hand, to the beat of his heart. "Poured boiling water on myself by accident," he said with a shrug, though he was still in a lot of pain, he tried to hide it.

"Jesus," Joey said, walking over to pick the main parts of the broken mug off the floor. "Can't even trust you to make a cup of coffee without destroying yourself."

Yami shrugged, "it worked."

Yugi was confused, "What do you mean it worked?"

"I was trying to think of something that would distract me from Bri, and upon doing this," he lifted his hand up where the red burn mark was, "it certainly distracted me," he said.

Joey narrowed his eyes, "don't you dare start thinking like that," he said. "We're not going to let you hurt yourself, whether intentional or not."

Now that Yugi was closer, he noticed the ugly cuts covering Yami's hands. "How did you get those?" he asked, staring at Yami's hands looking slightly worried.

Yami held his hands out for Yugi to look, "tried picking up glass while hungover," he said. The hint of a smirk sat on the edge of his lips, and Joey glared at him. Yugi remembered Joey explaining what had happened the other night after their run in at the park, and smiled sympathetically as Yami dropped his hands back to his sides.

"Well I vote we go do something, seems this apartment is a death trap at the moment," Joey suggested.

"Like what?" Yami asked, as he picked up the broken mug that Joey had retrieved and dumped it in the bin.

Joey shrugged, "Haven't thought that far ahead yet, let's see what Domino has to offer," he grinned.

"Sounds good to me," Yugi said with a smile, before turning to Yami.

"How about it?" Joey asked.

"Yeah, alright," Yami said, "just let me get changed first, I've been wearing the same clothes for the past 2 days..." as he walked into his bedroom to get changed, Joey turned to Yugi.

"See what I mean?" Joey said once Yami was out of ear shot.

Yugi nodded, "Don't worry, we'll cheer him up," he said with a smile.

"With your help we will," Joey grinned.

* * *

sorry this was a short one, but i wanted to finish it before i went to bed, and this seemed like the right place to do it, so yeah :D

and thus begins Yugi's challenge to pull Yami out of his depression :D but what starts off as friendly concern turns into much much more... ;)

ooh i love writing this XD the next few chapters may take longer, cause im not surehow to write them, like i know the general idea of what happens, but its only very vague, so bare with me :)

Enjoy the puzzleshipping feels, my friends, for they will surface very soon... xD


	6. Chapter 6 - A New Friendship

**Chapter 6 - A New Friendship**

"Joey what the hell are you doing?" Yami asked, staring at his character on the screen. Him, Joey and Yugi were in the middle of a video game as they sat in Yami's apartment, the aim of which was to kill anything and everything, but not each other as Yugi had realised early on in the game. Joey's character was standing holding a rocket launcher, doing what looked like an odd little dance.

"I'm trying to figure out how to activate this thing!" He said, getting frustrated at the TV

screen.

Yugi laughed, "just looks like your bobbing up and down!" he said. Joey glared at the boy, before returning to the task at hand.

"Your pressing the wrong button," Yami said, "That's the duck button."

"No, I know what I'm doing," Joey said. "There's some sort of special function on here and I'm gonna find it."

Yami chuckled, the three of them had spent the last week or so together, doing anything and everything they could to keep Yami's mind occupied. It appeared to be working though, he was smiling more often and hadn't had _many_ more clumsy accidents, though he had managed to break a lightbulb and almost his spine in the process.

This interesting event had happened only two days ago, as Joey and Yugi showed up to Yami's apartment one morning to find him standing on a computer chair, reaching up to try and replace a lightbulb. Upon their arrival, Yami had gotten distracted, and after his weight shifted on the chair (that was on wheels), it had slid to the side, causing him to fall off. Luckily, Joey and Yugi had realised what was to come, and were able to run over and 'catch' him before he hit the ground and seriously injured himself. By 'catch' however, the two just ran up behind him with their arms out, and he landed on top of them, as they successfully broke his fall. While the three of them lay on the floor in a crumpled mess, Joey had given Yami a lecture about standing on chairs that had wheels, and Yugi had to restrain himself from laughing.

Yami looked back at the screen, remembering that they were in the middle of a game. Joey was still dancing around on the screen trying to find the so called 'special function' of his rocket launcher, while Yugi was trying to fend off all of the enemy characters.

"Joey, you're not helping at all," Yugi said.

"I will be when I find this," Joey said, "Oh hold on, I know what to press..." Yami and Yugi watched as Joey put in a button combination on his controller, and the rocket launcher blew up in response, killing all of their characters.

"Well done Joey," Yami said sarcastically, "now we're dead."

Yugi laughed, "you weren't supposed to be helping the other team Joey."

"Well I didn't expect _that _to happen," Joey said, placing his controller on the ground. Yami smiled, he forgot how fun it was doing stuff like this. Of course, Briana thought video games were a silly waste of time, so he had put all of his away, until he dragged them out the other day as a means for a distraction. At the thought of Briana, his chest tightened once again. He wanted to hate her, he wanted to convince himself that she was just a bitch and move on with his life, but he couldn't. She had made him so happy over the past 11 and a half months, and he couldn't deny that, he couldn't just push it all aside as if it were nothing, even after the previous events.

After thinking about it, he did realise that their relationship hadn't been the best in the month leading up to this. Briana had become distanced, more frequently turning down his requests to take her out somewhere. But he had been patient with her, assuming she was just under stress from her uni work. But now as he sat on the couch thinking about it, he realised that it was over the last month that she had been seeing Austin. _How could I have been so stupid, _he thought helplessly. He had been so busy planning their anniversary that he hadn't noticed much of her odd behaviour, and anything he did noticed he just shrugged it off as something else.

His eyes widened as he realised, "Our anniversary!" he exclaimed, dropping his game controller onto the ground.

"Huh?" Joey said, looking at Yami quizzically.

Yugi had a similar expression on his face, "What about an anniversary?"

"I completely forgot," Yami said, "I had booked the penthouse of a 5 star hotel for Briana and I..." he slumped his head down miserably. "Now it'll just be a waste of money," he mumbled.

Joey had a look of realisation on his face, "Is that why you've been so poor lately?" he asked randomly.

Yami nodded his head sadly, "I used my last 3 weeks of pay to get us that room..." he sighed, leaning back on the couch. "What a waste that was," he muttered.

Joey thought for a moment, before the smile of an idea appeared on his face, "It doesn't have to be waste," he said with a grin.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Yami asked, sitting back up on the couch.

"Just because you're not with Bri anymore doesn't mean you can't enjoy that hotel room, I mean you've already paid for it so you better use it."

"You mean I should stay there anyway? But what's the point? I don't want to go to a hotel by myself," he said.

Joey made a frustrated grunt, "You don't have to go by yourself you knuckle head, I'll come with ya. We can just enjoy 5 star goodness!" he grinned.

The hint of a smile sat on the edge of Yami's lips, "That's actually not a bad idea," he said. He turned to Yugi, "Do you want to come with us too?" he asked the boy.

Yugi blinked at him, confused, "But didn't you only book it for two people?" he asked.

Yami shrugged, as a grin appeared on his face, "We can smuggle you in," he said, "After all, you're short enough."

Normally Yugi wasn't fond of short jokes, but he was okay with it this time, because it had caused Yami to smile, and that meant progress. Yugi smiled in return, "Sounds good enough to me," he said.

"Sweet! It's a bro date then," Joey grinned. He then glanced at Yugi and added, "But not _that_ kind of bro date," he said with a wink.

Yugi just laughed and punched him on the arm, "very funny Joey," he said.

Yami gave them both a confused look, "Am I missing something?"

Joey grinned, "I, the amazing Joey Wheeler, set up Yugi with his previous boyfriend."

Yugi chuckled, "he did it very well too, considering."

Joey looked at his watch, "Well as much as I'd like to stay and chat about Yugi's love life, I have to go visit my mum, it's her birthday today." He stood up, grabbing his jacket from the back of the couch.

"Wish her a Happy Birthday for me then," Yugi said, having known Joey's mother for quite a few years.

"I will," he said with a grin as he turned for the door. "Catch you guys later." With a wave, he walked towards the door and out of the apartment.

Yami chuckled, looking towards the door that was now swinging shut, "I can't imagine Joey being a matchmaker of sorts."

Yugi laughed, "me either, its quite an amusing story actually," he said, thinking back.

"Well now you've got me interested," Yami said, "Care to tell?"

"Sure," Yugi turned so he was comfortably facing Yami on the couch. "Well, I think it was about a year ago," he said, resting his hand on his chin as he thought, "yeah, March last year," he said. "After coming out of high school and yet still not being able to acquire myself a girlfriend, Joey decided he'd help. Only thing was, he didn't run the idea by me first," he chuckled. "So, Joey being the wonderful friend he was, convinced a girl to go on a blind date with me. Little did I know what his intentions were when he told me to meet him at the movies one night. I showed up, expecting to find Joey, and instead he had this girl with him. I barely had the time to question him as he introduced us and then ditched. So, I decided to go along with it, not wanting to cause any trouble, and I assumed that she wouldn't be interested in me anyway by the end of the night. But guess what?"

"You were wrong?" Yami asked, looking quite amused by this point.

"Very wrong," Yugi nodded. "During the movie she kept trying to get closer to me, and I had to try and keep my distance but without offending her, it was quite difficult."

Yami chuckled, "so then what happened after the movie?"

"She gave me her number and said she wanted to meet up again," Yugi said. "So then I had to awkwardly explain to her that the set up had been a mistake and apologise for leading her on, though I had tried not to."

"I bet she wasn't happy with that," Yami said with a laugh.

"No she wasn't," Yugi said, shaking his head, "Though she was more annoyed at Joey for setting the whole thing up. He got a verbal bashing from her the very next day."

Yami chuckled, "Poor Joey, just trying to be a good friend and he gets abused for it."

Yugi laughed, "Yep, that's Joey for you."

* * *

And Yugi's amusing story will continue next chapter ;P

Like how this is going?

Hate it?

Want them to make out already?

Let me know! :D The more feedback I get the more likely I am to write faster (then again I've been getting out at least a chapter a day so far so i may not be able to write any faster as it is :P) but hey it gives me motivation :D

And now I shall start writing the next chapter, because I seriously have nothing else to do and I love this story :D so ch. 7 should be up soon!

Stay classy my lovely readers!

PharaohsThrone :)


	7. Chapter 7 - Stubborn Thoughts

**Chapter 7 - Stubborn Thoughts**

As Yami and Yugi sat on the couch in Yami's apartment, Yugi continued his story.

"So the next day after Joey got a verbal bashing from that girl, he asked me what had gone wrong, thinking that I had been a jerk to her or something," he said. "So I had to explain to him that I wasn't interested in girls, that was amusing," Yugi laughed. "When he understood, he decided to continue his endeavor, hellbent on finding me a boyfriend."

Yami chuckled, "I can imagine Joey doing that actually, but not very successfully."

Yugi laughed, "Well he wasn't very successful at first. That is, until he ran into an old friend of ours from school, Ryou Bakura. Upon finding out that we had similar interests, he spared no time in organising us to meet up, and well, it went from there," Yugi said.

"I see," Yami said, "So what went wrong?" he asked curiously.

Yugi shrugged, "It was good while it lasted, but it just wasn't working out, it was kind of a mutual decision when it came down to it," he said. "So I luckily haven't had any heartbreaking experiences."

"Yes, well," Yami could feel his chest tightening again at the thought of Briana. "I'm going to make sure I don't go down that path again..."

"What do you mean?" Yugi asked.

"Love," Yami said, "It was stupid of me to fall into that trap, and it's not happening again," he said, as if trying to convince himself.

Yugi was surprised, "you can't possibly be saying you're not going to fall in love again," he said.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Yami said, folding his arms across his chest. Yugi sighed internally, _why does he have to be so stubborn? _he thought.

"Well I wouldn't give up on the idea if I were you," Yugi said, "I may not have been in love before, but I'm not going to push it away out of fear," he said. "And I think that you wouldn't have much choice in the matter. You don't just decide to fall in love with someone, it just happens, so I don't think you'd be able to deny it either." Yugi's words had struck a chord inside Yami, but he stubbornly pushed it away. _No, I'm not going to fall for it, I'm not going to let myself get hurt again, it's the only way, _he thought. _And if I can't control my feelings for someone, I just won't get close to anyone, _he thought with finality. _Well, I'm doing well at the moment, I haven't had contact with any women in days. _Yugi could tell that Yami wasn't inclined to say anything, so his eyes scanned the room, trying to think of something to change the subject.

That's when Yugi realised, "So you live all by yourself?" he asked.

Yami nodded, "I liked the idea of having my own apartment to myself," he explained, "and when I was with Briana it was handy not having any annoying room mates," he said, trying not to show how much it bothered him by saying her name. "Also, I didn't have any friends to share an apartment with. But now it just feels empty and lonely here," he admitted.

Yugi nodded, "Usually it's just me and my grandpa where I live, but he's not here at the moment, and I can't stand being home by myself at night."

"How so?" Yami asked.

Yugi shrugged, "I don't know, I guess I'm just so used to being around people all the time, having my house so empty just bothers me because I've always had my grandpa around," he explained, "I'd gotten Joey and a few other friends to come over for the past week, but now everyone's busy," he said, resting his head on his hand, looking quite unhappy.

"Would you like me to give you some company tonight then?" Yami asked him.

Yugi looked up, "Are you sure?" he asked.

Yami shrugged, "I'm apparently not to be trusted by myself at the moment anyway," he looked up at the lightbulb that he had tried to replace, as if backing up his thoughts.

Yugi smiled and shook his head, remembering the previous events, "Then that's probably a good idea," he said with a laugh. He looked around the so called 'Death Trap' apartment as Joey had called it. Yugi knew it wasn't the apartment that was the problem. Joey had told him how Yami used to be so upbeat about everything, and always in control, never sloppy and clumsy like he was at the moment. At least if Yugi was with him he could stop the man from hurting himself, whether intentional or not. It seemed like he still had a disregard for his own safety, or he simply couldn't be bothered by it. Yugi looked down at Yami's hands, still sporting scars fro the previous week. The angry red mark on his left hand hadn't disappeared either, from when he had spilt boiling water on himself. Yugi decided he would do his best to get Yami back to the way he was before, not the clumsy mess he was at the moment. Not that Yugi minded, but he wanted his new friend to be happy, and if that meant hanging around to stop him from getting too depressed over his former lover, then he was willing to do it.

Yugi's eyes curiously wandered around the room and then landed on the deck of cards sitting on the coffee table beside the couch.

"You play Duel Monsters?" he asked, his face lighting up at the sight of the familiar cards.

"Hm? Yami was surprised by the change of subject, but turned to look at the cards, "Oh, yes," he said, picking them up, "I haven't played in a while though," he admitted.

"We should have a duel when we get back to mine," Yugi said with a grin.

Yami chuckled, "You're on."

...

Yami looked around curiously as he and Yugi walked into the game shop. He closed the door behind him as Yugi walked to the back of the shop.

"So this is where you live?" He asked, looking around at the shop's contents.

"Yep," Yugi said, turning on the lights, "Well, not here exactly..." he then opened the door at the back, walking into the part of the building that was his home, "here," he said.

"Ah," Yami followed him into the house, it was small and cozy, just big enough for two people. "So, where is your grandfather?" he asked as Yugi walked into the kitchen.

Yugi sighed, "he's in the hospital at the moment." Yugi offered Yami a glass of water, who accepted graciously and sat down on one of the stools next to the kitchen bench.

"I'm sorry to hear," Yami said, "Is he sick?"

Yugi shook his head, pulling up a stool to sit next to Yami, "No, he needs a hip replacement," he said. He decided to leave it at that and not mention the rest, that could be left for another day. He didn't want to worry about that right now.

"I see," Yami said, "Well I hope he recovers soon so you don't have to be by yourself for much longer," he said.

"Same," Yugi said. Yami noticed something in Yugi's voice that was odd, but he shrugged it off.

"Now, about that duel..."

* * *

There you go, I finished it just in time to go to bed :D

Oh yeah, i didn't expect for some Heartshipping to filter its way into this chapter when i wrote it, but it did, so sue me XP

(and i don't even ship it!)

Now if i hadn't have put heaps of thought into this already about the underlying story, I'd have them all over each other in the next chapter during their sleep over ;)

But, unfortunately, that's not how the story goes, so i apologise if you were expecting anything to come from this, but there is progress, and progress is always good.

So enjoy these two cuties as their friendship blooms, and I'll update tomorrow :D

PharaohsThrone


	8. Chapter 8 - The Bro Sleepover

**Chapter 8 - The Bro Sleepover**

"Remember I haven't played this game in a while," Yami said as he shuffled Yugi's deck.

"Don't worry," Yugi chuckled, doing the same with Yami's, "I'll go easy on you," he said. They exchanged their decks and began the duel, sitting on the floor of Yugi's living room. The duel was interesting to say the least, Yami started off quite rusty but as the duel went on, he slowly got back into the groove of things, as he slowly brought down Yugi's life points until they were almost even again.

"Ha," Yami said, summoning one of his best monsters. "Now I can destroy your Silent Swordsman."

"Sorry," Yugi said flipping a trap card, "I have mirror force," he grinned.

"Oh, that's so not fair," Yami said, putting his monsters in the graveyard pile.

Yugi just grinned even more, "It so is," he said, "If I attack now, you'll lose all your life points." Yami just glared at him. "I think that's check and mate," Yugi said, placing his cards down. Yami continued to glare at Yugi, before throwing the remaining cards in his hand at the boy.

Yugi laughed, "Don't be a sore loser Yami, you haven't played this game in ages."

"I'm not being a sore loser, I'm expressing my thoughts about the outcome of this duel," he said, nodding as he crossed his arms.

"Sure, sure," Yugi said with a laugh. He was interrupted when the phone rang. He jumped up from his place, "That might be the hospital," he said, walking into the kitchen to answer it. Yami sat back patiently, looking at the card mess in front of him. _Great, _he thought, _now i'll have to go through this mess and figure out which of these cards are mine. _He realised then that throwing his cards at Yugi may not have been the best idea, but shrugged it off. He then overheard the conversation Yugi was having on the phone.

"But I'm going to need it really soon," he said, sounding desperate. Confused, Yami listened carefully. "I'm sorry, sorry, okay. Sorry." Yugi definitely sounded flustered, and nervous? What could he be so nervous about. "Yes I will. I won't let you down." yami then thought he sounded scared almost. This was definitely confusing him. He heard Yugi hang up the phone, and Yami relaxed again, pretending he hadn't been listening to Yugi's conversation. He felt a bit rude for eavesdropping, but he redeemed himself by thinking it was only because Yugi sounded worried and distressed, and didn't like the idea of his friend being upset in any way. Yugi walked back into the room, and Yami noticed the boy had the slight evidence of sweat on his forehead.

"Everything alright?" Yami asked as Yugi sat back down.

"Uh, yes," he said, maybe a little too quickly. "Everything is fine," he said, forcing a smile. Now Yami hadn't known Yugi for very long, but he still knew that something was up, he just hoped that whatever it was would sort itself out soon, because he didn't like seeing Yugi so flustered. Although Yami wasn't convinced, he decided to let it be.

"So what now?" he asked.

"Well I'm hungry," Yugi said, gathering up his cards, "How about we order some pizza?"

"Sounds good to me," Yami said with a smile as he sorted his Duel Monster cards into its original pile.

The pair ended up sitting on Yugi's couch eating pizza and watching movies, adding their commentary along the way. Apart from the phone call and Yugi's obvious unease, it turned out to be a pretty good night, as the two enjoyed each other's company.

...

Yami floated back into consciousness as he felt the person next to him move. He was still half asleep, but he cuddled up to the person again. "Briana..." he murmured dreamily, relaxing beside them. _Hold on a minute, _Yami thought, now more awake than before. He had been in the middle of a dream where he was with Bri again, and it was as if nothing had happened, and he was happy. But he then realised it had just been a dream, and therefore the person he had his arm draped over couldn't have been her. He instantly jumped up from the couch in alarm, realising he had been sleeping next to Yugi the whole time. _Thank god he didn't wake up, _Yami thought, relaxing again as he sat back down on the couch. _That would have been embarrassing. _He looked down at Yugi who was curled up beside him. They had both fallen asleep there while watching a movie, so Yami decided to pull the mattress out from underneath the couch where he had spied it earlier. He had wondered why his neck was sore, the couch certainly didn't fit two people comfortably. As Yami made himself comfortable on the mattress, he heard Yugi stir on the couch. He looked up, but Yugi appeared to still be asleep. The boy moved again, groaning as he did so. Yami raised an eyebrow at his friend's behaviour. Yugi started to look like he was distressed, and started tossing and turning every few seconds. Yami decided to wake him up, he must have been having a bad dream. He moved over so he could reach up to the couch and nudge Yugi's arm.

"Yugi," he said quietly, "Yugi, wake up." The boy didn't respond, so Yami nudged him harder. The response he got that time, was the boy's arm flying out and almost hitting Yami in the face. He ducked back just in time so that it missed. Looking up at the boy quizzically, he now saw that Yugi was rubbing his eyes, having now woken up. He was breathing heavily, as he tried to calm himself down.

Yami sat up again, "Are you alright?" he asked.

Yugi jumped in his place, not realising that Yami was awake, "Oh, you scared me," he said.

"Sorry," Yami said, "Are you okay?" he asked again.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Yugi said, forcing a smile, "Just had a nightmare is all."

"Tell me about it," Yami muttered. Then again, his dream hadn't actually been a nightmare, but it might as well have been. It reminded him of what things were like when him and Bri were together and happy as ever. His heart ached at the thought. He sighed heavily and laid back down on the mattress, looking up at the ceiling.

Even though it was dark, Yugi could just notice that pained expression on Yami's face. "Everything alright?" Yugi asked.

Yami sighed, "I want to hate her, I really do, but I just can't," he said. "And that makes it all the more harder to get over her." Yami realised that it was late at night when his emotions were at their worst, but he didn't care at this point, he was just glad he wasn't alone otherwise he would have felt even worse.

Yugi gave him a half smile, before realising he probably couldn't see it. "Don't worry, we'll fix that," he said. "You'll be feeling back to normal in no time."

Yami sighed, "I don't want to feel anything..."

Yugi wasn't quite sure what to say to this, so instead, he grabbed one of the pillows on the couch and threw it at Yami.

It hit him square in the face with a, "Oomph!" in response from Yami.

Yami pulled the pillow off of his face as Yugi spoke, "Stop doing that," Yugi said.

"Doing what?" Yami asked.

"That thing you do when you think about her and get all depressed, stop it," Yugi said.

Yami almost laughed at him, "And how do you suggest I do that?" he asked.

Yugi shrugged, "I dunno, think about someone else," he suggested.

"Someone else?" Yami asked, confused.

"Yeah," Yugi said, "Is there any other girls you find attractive?"

"Well yeah but-"

"Then think about them instead," Yugi said.

Yami threw the pillow back at Yugi, who made an irritated noise in response. It was quite cute actually, Yami thought with a chuckle. "I think I'll just go back to sleep..." Yami said, rolling over and making himself comfortable again.

"Okay but if you think about _her _from now on I'm going to throw something at you."

Yami couldn't help himself from chuckling, "You do that," he said.

* * *

okay, i know the title is lame, but i couldn't think of anything cause its like 4am at the moment. Yeah, know how i said id update tomorrow? technically it is tomorrow so bite me :P tho I'm pretty sure you guys would be happy about me updating sooner so whatever. So yeah, cause its early in the morning I'm not sure if this chapter was that great or not, ill fix any errors in the morning :P

Always happy to hear what you think!

and i think I'm gonna go to bed now before i fall asleep at my laptop...


	9. Chapter 9 - The Night Begins

**Chapter 9 - The Night Begins**

Joey was jumping up and down on the spot, giggling like a little boy. "This is gonna be awesome!" he said, grinning widely. Today was the day they were staying in the penthouse of one of the most expensive hotels in the area, and Joey couldn't contain his excitement.

"Calm down Joey," Yugi said with a laugh as they were walking from his house to Yami's apartment. "It's only a hotel."

"But it's got a pool and a spa and a sauna and then the penthouse _itself _has its own pool and spa and then there's _midnight room service!" _Yugi laughed and rolled his eyes, and Yami just chuckled as his friend's behaviour. Yami and Yugi may as well have been best friends by this point, with Joey constantly needing to ditch them to do various things, they hung out almost all the time. This was especially since neither of them liked being alone at night, what with Yugi's grandpa still in hospital and Yami's feelings about the Briana situation always surfacing late at night. The two of them were the perfect duo.

Yugi's feelings towards Yami however had started to become slightly more than that of a concerned friend's, but he hadn't entirely admitted that to himself yet. He just simply enjoyed looking at Yami. A lot. Because let's face it, he was damn attractive, Yugi had thought that ever since he first saw him in the park. So that was all there was to it, right? Well that's what Yugi told himself. He did really enjoy Yami's company over the past couple of weeks though, even though it was meant to be working the other way around. Yami was also starting to become happier in general, and Yugi noticed that he was slowly regaining his strong, controlled manner. He still had times when he would slip out of it and turn into a clumsy idiot, but Yugi thought it was cute. _Oh dear, _Yugi thought, _I can't start thinking about my friend like this, it's not healthy._

He sighed and discretely watched the muscles in Yami's back as the man walked in front of him, they were still very defined through his black sleeveless shirt that clung to his skin. _Why does he make it so hard for me to not stare at him? _Yugi thought helplessly. _If this keeps up, it could ruin our friendship, and I can't let that happen, I have to make sure I don't fall into that trap. _He then realised that he was thinking exactly how Yami was, only in a different context. Yami had said that he would stop himself for having feelings for anyone so that he wouldn't get hurt again. Yugi however was saying he'll stop himself from having feelings for one person so that it didn't ruin a friendship. That was logical, right? He wasn't so sure.

"So, when we get all out stuff into my car-" Joey began, but Yami cut him off.

"Hold on a second, _your _car?" Yami asked, "We aren't taking your car," he shook his head, as if making the decision final.

Joey looked surprised at Yami's comment, "But why not take my car?" he asked. They were now just approaching the apartment block where Yami lived.

"Because, if we're going to show up at one of the best hotels around," he said, pulling out his car keys with a smirk, "We have to go in style." He pressed the unlock button on his keys, and Joey and Yugi's mouths dropped when they saw the car that responded.

Joey walked over to the beautiful sleek black car, "You never told me you owned an Audi!" he said, admiring it.

Yami shrugged, "you never asked." He then smirked at Joey, "So, are we taking my car now?"

"Sure," Joey said, still admiring the car. "What model is it?" he asked, peering in through the windows.

"It's a 2008 S5," Yami said with a grin.

Yugi laughed, he hadn't seen Yami gloat like this before, but it was very amusing, "It's a very nice car," he said.

"Thank you," Yami smiled at him.

"How did you get the dough to pay for this?" Joey asked him, still sounding awe struck.

"Lots and lots and lots of hard work," Yami said, "Plus I had a small inheritance from my grandparents," he added. They all stood there looking at the car, until Yami said, "Well come on, we have a hotel to get to!" He said, smiling as he jumped in the drivers seat.

"Shotgun!" Joey called out in excitement as he ran for the passenger seat. Yugi just laughed, shaking his head as he got into the back, and they sped off down the road, headed towards the 5 star hotel.

Yami pulled the car over to the side of the road, only a block away from the hotel.

"Now," he said, turning to Yugi and Joey, "We still haven't figured out how we're going to smuggle Yugi in," he noted.

Joey chuckled, "I thought we were gonna shove him in a bag," he said.

Yugi glared at him, "Yeah, apart from the fact that that isn't physically possible, that's a bad idea," he said.

"Yugi's right," Yami said, "We need a better idea."

Joey thought for a moment, "Well why doesn't he just hide in the boot until we get into the building, then we can just go up to the room separately," Joey said.

Yami blinked at him, "That's actually a good idea," he said. He then turned to Yugi, "Are you okay with that idea, Yug?" he asked.

Yugi had to restrain himself from smiling stupidly at the nickname, so he nodded, "That's fine with me," he said. He sighed internally, _why does it have to be Yami out of all people that I have to have feelings for all of a sudden? _he thought to himself. _It's all his fault for being so god damn attractive. _They got out of the car and discreetly helped Yugi climb in to the boot.

"Keep your phone on you," Yami said to him, "Just in case we need to tell you something."

Yugi nodded, "Okay, I don't have to be in here for very long, do I?" he asked.

"Nah pal," Joey said, "We'll be in there in no time," he said with a reassuring smile. They closed the boot and and got back into the car.

"Alright," Joey said, getting comfortable in his seat, "let's do this!" Yami chuckled, Joey couldn't contain his excitement, despite the slight nervousness he had about smuggling Yugi in. But really, how hard could it be?

They were about to find out.

* * *

heehee, oh do i have some ideas for the next few chapters XD also, i just read a story with a MASSIVE cliff hanger, so im in the mood to do the same to you guys to get my revenge :D although this is like 0.00001% of the cliff hanger i just got, like really, i want to punch something.

Anyway, I hope you're happy with Yugi ;) he's slowly coming over to the dark side ;)

hehehe im gonna gave fun writing this story XD

anyway, I hope you're enjoying it so far!

And please don't be afraid to let me know what you think! :)


	10. Chapter 10 - Rescue Mission

**Chapter 10 - Rescue Mission**

Yami and Joey casually pulled into the front entrance of the hotel, and were approached by a very well dressed man wearing the hotel staff's uniform.

"Looks like the welcoming committee," Joey said as the man walked up to the car.

"Welcome to the Stamford Plaza Hotel," he said with a friendly smile, "What would be your name?" he asked. Yami told the man his name and he pulled out a small tablet, looking for the booking.

"Ah yes, here you are..." the man gave Joey an odd look, before composing himself again, "You can go to reception and collect your room key, I shall take care of your vehicle."

Yami paled, _Oh no, _he thought, _I forgot about the valet parking. _

"Um, no that's fine, I'm happy to take the car down myself," he said.

The man opened Yami's door, "Oh but we insist sir, we cannot allow you to drive your own car in as we have a very certain way of how we store them. I assure you your car will be in good hands."

_It's not the car I'm worried about, _Yami thought. After another attempt to protest, the valet man heavily insisted he take the car, so Yami reluctantly got out of the car, as he and Joey grabbed their bags from the back seat.

"Enjoy your stay gentlemen," the man as he got into the drivers seat.

"Uh Joey," Yami said as they watched the car disappear under the hotel, "You should probably text Yugi," he said worriedly.

"Can't," Joey said, "Don't have any credit." Yami sighed and pulled out his phone nervously as they walked into reception. "Relax Yami," Joey said, "We'll sort this out, Yugi will be fine."

_I sure hope so, _Yami said, as he typed the message. He said that they had forgotten about the compulsory valet service, and that they would go down there and get Yugi as soon as they could, and for him to not panic. He got a reply straight away.

**_Wait, so you're not driving the car right now?!_**

_No, but don't worry, once he's parked the car we'll come get you I promise!_

**_Ok, but please hurry I'm starting to feel claustrophobic :/_**

Yami was getting more worried, "We have to get down there," he murmured to Joey as they approached reception, "Yugi's claustrophobic."

"And he tells us that now?!" Joey said, before replacing his frustrated expression with a friendly smile towards the receptionist.

The woman gave them an odd look after Yami had told her his name.

"This is with the...'romantic package for two' as well?" she asked. Yami had forgotten he'd signed up for that, which included a couples massage and champagne and various other romantic things.

"Oh uh, that is not necessary anymore," Yami said, feeling a pang in his chest as he remembered all the wonderful things he had originally planned for this night. The woman gave them the keys to the penthouse and Joey and Yami would have been ecstatic about going up to the room, if only Yugi were with them. They quickly made their way to the top floor and unlocked the room, only to dump their stuff just inside the door and close it without even looking at its contents.

"Okay, how are we going to get Yugi?" Yami asked, "Only hotel staff can go down to where they keep the cars."

"Well then we'll have to _become_ staff members," Joey said with a smirk. Yami already didn't like the idea, but he couldn't think of any other way to get to Yugi. He agreed, and the searched the floor below the penthouse until they saw someone exiting a door marked 'staff only'. They got to the door before it closed completely, and found a room filled with clean linen and towels.

"Dammit this isn't going to help us," Joey said.

"Wait," Yami walked over to a pile of boxes in the corner, and opened one of them. "Bingo," he pulled out a brand new black button up shirt that had a red 'S' stitched on the breast pocket. They'd found the uniforms. They quickly threw them over the clothes they were already wearing, and set off on the task of finding out how to get down to the car park. They reached the bottom floor and tried to inconspicuously find the way to the car park, but they had no idea where they were going. They turned a corner, thinking all was going well, when they ran into one of the hotel's staff.

"Pardon me," the man said, apologising for almost running into them. He was about to walk off, but he stopped, eyeing the two of them curiously. "I don't seem to recognise you two," he noted.

"We're new here," Joey piped up.

"Yes," Yami agreed, "this is our first day, but we're a little confused," he explained calmly, much the opposite to how he was really feeling.

"Oh, that would be why I haven't seen you before," the man said with a laugh, "What can I help you with?"

"...Would you be able to tell us how to get to the car storage?" Joey asked.

The man became confused, "Why would you need to go down there?" he asked.

Yami and Joey looked at each other, "A guest left something important in their vehicle and wished for us to fetch it," Yami said. He was glad for how well him and Joey could think on their feet.

"Well alright then," the man with a shrug, he explained how to get to the underground car park and they thanked him, before heading off in the right direction as fast as they could.

Joey wiped his forehead once the man was out of sight, "Phew! That was a close one," he said.

"Indeed," Yami said, "let's hope the rest of this is smooth sailing."

"We can only hope," Joey said. They found the door leading to the underground car park and punched in the code they had been told by the man. It unlocked with ease and they darted down the stairs, to find themselves surrounded by cars.

"Next problem...finding the car," Joey said, looking around.

"Well it's a black Audi..." Yami said, though he then realised there were a lot of Black Audi's parked here, as only wealthy people stayed at this hotel, most of which owned expensive European cars. They walked through the rows and rows of cars until eventually, they noticed one with a Duel Monsters card hanging from the rearview mirror.

"Bingo!" Joey said, running over to the car. He stopped when he reached it. "Wait, we need the keys!" He said, panicking again.

"I've got that sorted," Yami said, pulling out a key for the car. Joey was confused. "I always carry a spare car key on me," Yami said, unlocking the boot. Joey sighed a breath of relief, and the boot opened revealing a worried looking Yugi. His face lit up when he saw Yami, and he jumped out in relief, grabbing the man in a bro hug.

Yami chuckled, "we missed you, too, Yug."

"I was getting worried that you guys wouldn't come," Yugi said, letting go of Yami and stepping back to look at both of them.

"Of course not," Joey said.

"We'd always come back for you," Yami said with a smile. "Now let's go, we have a penthouse waiting for us!" The three made their way out of the car park and carefully made their way through the 'staff only' corridors on the ground level. They had run into another staff member, but just explained that they had found Yugi wandering in the wrong direction, and were leading him back to the main part of the hotel. They finally made their way back up to the penthouse, and this time when the opened the door, they all looked inside with awe.

This was going to be a fun night.

* * *

sorry this wasn't an awfully eventful chapter, i tried to make it interesting but I'm quite tired at the moment, so i hope that Yugi being stuck in the boot of car was amusing for you.

I have to let you guys know though that I am going away for a few days , so I might be able to get one more chapter out before then, but then there wont be any updates for about 4 or 5 days, so I'm sorry for breaking my one update a day record but It's my 2 year anniversary with my boyfriend so its kind of important :P I may be able to write while i am away, but i won't have access to internet so i wont be able to post anything :(

In other news, I have come up with yet another idea for a story! All I can say at this point is that the main characters are Yami, Kaiba and an OC and I'm really excited about it :D so that will probably be posted when i get back, so keep your eyes peeled in about 5/6 days time!

Anyway, I should probably stop babbling and go to bed :P

Let me know what you think! :)


	11. Chapter 11 - A Night To Remember

**Chapter 11 - A Night To Remember**

"Incoming!" Joey called out before bomb diving into the pool. The impact caused half of the water to splash onto the pavement and all over Yami and Yugi, who had luckily already jumped in.

Yugi shook the water out of his hair, scowling at Joey, "I would have thought a buffalo just jumped in," he said.

Yami laughed, "Or an oversized monkey," he added, looking over at their friend.

"Hey!" Joey said, "I heard that!" Yugi stuck his tongue out at Joey, who glared at them both. They were all in their underwear enjoying the rooftop pool that they had all to themselves, and Yugi was finding it hard not to stare at Yami. _Dammit, this is harder than I thought, why does he have to be so ripped?! _Yugi thought to himself, admiring Yami's abs while the man wasn't looking. Yami hadn't been to the gym in a few weeks after the Briana incident, but his aesthetics hadn't paid the price yet.

They had soon gotten bored of the pool and were lounging in the spa on the rooftop, looking out over the city. They had then decided to start a dare competition while they were in the spa.

"If only there were girls here," Joey said with a snicker, "That would make this much more interesting. Then again, Yugi doesn't need girls," he laughed. Yugi stuck his tongue out, and Joey just grinned at him. They soon gave Joey his dare and he sighed, getting out of the spa and walking over to the railing.

"Make sure it's nice and loud for the whole city to hear," Yami reminded him, watching with an amused expression as he and Yugi sat in the spa watching their friend.

Joey took a deep breath, before yelling at the top of his lungs, "MY NAME IS JOEY WHEELER AND I HAVE A HUGE VAGINA!" He yelled as his voice echoed out across the surrounding area. After a moment, they then heard a response from a few floors down.

"We already knew that!" the random voice echoed up to them. Yami and Yugi just cracked up laughing as Joey looked down over the railing, trying to find the owner of the voice. "And that my friends," Joey then said, walking back over and getting back into the spa, "Is what proves that I _don't _have a vagina," he said. They continued their dares until they'd ran out of ideas, also proving that none of them were 'chicken', and had soon dried off and were sitting in the penthouse, eating and joking about. Yami and Yugi decided they wanted to have a re match in Duel Monsters, and Joey wanted in as well, so they set themselves up in a 3 way duel to determine who was the best at the game.

As they were sorting each others decks, Yami spoke up. "Yugi, throw something at me," he said, still looking down at the deck he was sorting.

Without a word, Yugi grabbed a pillow and threw it straight into Yami's face, trying not to laugh at his reaction. Obviously Yami hadn't expected the pillow to hit him square in the face.

Joey was quite confused, "why are we throwing things at Yami?" he asked.

Yugi answered, still sorting Joey's cards, "He told me to throw something at him whenever he thinks of _her,_" Yugi explained, lingering on the last word to show who he was talking about.

"Oh, okay," Joey said, realising it was a tactic to punish Yami for thinking of Briana. He picked up an empty bottle and threw it at Yami's head.

"Ow!" Yami groaned, rubbing the side of his head, "What was that for?" he turned to Joey with a glare.

"I thought I'd join in," Joey said with a grin.

Yami threw the bottle back at him, "there's a reason I asked Yugi to do that and not you," he said.

"I was just trying to help," Joey said with grin.

Yugi handed Joey's deck back to him, "See this is why we can't have nice things, because you're an idiot." Yami just laughed.

...

The three boys had stayed up until the early hours of the morning, running a muck of the penthouse and having the time of their lives in the large space. They had soon collapsed on the king sized bed just after midnight and fallen asleep. Seems the room was only suited to two people, they had to share the one bed. None of them were bothered about sharing a bed, they were like three brothers; they didn't care. As for them all fitting on it, seems it was a King sized bed they thought it would be no problem.

Then again, Yami and Yugi had never shared a bed with Joey before. Yami had been in the middle, with Joey curled up on his left and Yugi peacefully sleeping on his right, and it had been comfortable.

As Yugi had been falling asleep he was very aware of Yami lying next to him, and could feel the heat radiating from his bare chest. As he was starting to get cold, he tried not to imagine what it would be like to cuddle up next to Yami, fearing that he would actually do it by accident once he was asleep. Little did he know that Yami had accidentally done the same to him the first time he had stayed at Yugi's house. The three had all managed to get to sleep pretty well, though after waking up a few times, Yami noticed that Joey was slowly taking up more and more of the bed, and this time Yami had woken to find that Joey had an arm slung across him.

With an amused chuckle, Yami lifted up Joey's arm and placed it by his side, before noticing that Yugi was almost falling off the bed as he was sleeping right on the edge. Yami tried to push Joey back so that Yugi had more room, but the man was a heavy and aggressive sleeper as Yami soon found out. After Yami had tried to push Joey back across the bed, Joey had protested with a groan, and pushed Yami in response. Yami was caught quite off guard by Joey's sudden force, and so was not able to stop himself when Joey pushed him into Yugi and they both fell off the bed in a mess of sheets and limbs. Startled, Yugi had let out a yelp of surprise when he fell off the bed, and a similar noise when Yami had landed on top of him. It was only a few seconds that the two of them were sprawled on the ground together, but it was enough to make Yugi blush. He was glad for the darkness of the room, otherwise that would have been awkward for him. Hell, it was already awkward.

Yami had let out a yelp of surprise and upon noticing he had landed on top of Yugi, he soon scrambled to his feet, looking quite flustered. The two just stayed where they were, just looking at each other for a moment, before Yugi finally spoke up.

"...What just happened?" he asked, sitting up on his elbows.

"I...don't know..." Yami said, standing in front of him. "...I tried to push Joey over cause he was taking up so much space and I think he pushed me back..."

"Geez," Yugi said, sitting up fully, "He's aggressive when he sleeps."

"Tell me about it," Yami said. He then sighed and turned around, "I think I need some fresh air..." Yugi watched as Yami walked out of the bedroom, and just saw him disappear up the stairs leading to the roof.

With a quizzical look on his face, Yugi stood up, and after a moment, decided to follow Yami

* * *

Hey guys! I'm back!

I'm very sorry that i didn't get to update before i left, my apologies! so here's some Yami/Yugi awkwardness for you :3

I hope this chapter is up to scratch, I was hoping to come up with an awesome idea of the shinanigans they could get up to in a penthouse, but i'm all out of ideas :( but its not over yet! i have an idea for something so bare with me :P

I'm also knee deep in ideas for my new story which I will post up soon, I'd like to get the first couple of chapters written up before I do anything with it, just to see if i actually do have enough ideas for the story :P But i'm super excited for it so hopefully it'll be up soon, keep your eyes peeled ;) only thing is i need to think of a name and I'm terrible at story titles -.- so it might be lame and it'll probably change after i post it but meh

Anyway! back to this story, in the next couple chapters an unexpected character makes an appearance, think they'll make a good impact or bad impact on the boys?

You'll have to wait and see ;)


	12. Chapter 12 - Back To Square One

**Chapter 12 - Back To Square One**

Yami walked across the rooftop where the pool was, and stopped at the railing, looking out over the city. It was still dark, and he just watched the glimmering lights of the buildings around him, trying to clear his head. He had managed to keep his mind off of Briana for most of the night, and had adopted Yugi's idea of thinking of somebody else instead. And who was he thinking about?

Yugi.

Not in a romantic way, he thought, he had just occupied his mind by thinking about how glad he was that he had Yugi as a friend. Whenever he thought of Briana he instead forced himself to think about all the good times that he and Yugi had had in the past couple of weeks, and it was working. Yugi seemed to be the perfect distraction, they had met because of Yami being upset over Briana, so what better than for him to be one to help Yami forget her?

Yugi had been great to him over the past couple of weeks, and Yami was very grateful for it. What confused Yami though, was why he had felt so flustered after falling on top of Yugi. He was his friend and nothing more so why did he react in such a way? He was quite confused. Yugi was quite attractive for a male, Yami thought, and he wondered why the boy didn't currently have a partner.

Yami shook his head, wondering why he was suddenly thinking such odd thoughts. Was it normal to think about how attractive your friend was? Of course, he was just making an observation, as any friend would. Yami was starting to get worried, after not hanging around any women in the past couple of weeks he must have lost some part of his mind.

He was interrupted from his thoughts when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned, to see Yugi approaching, a friendly smile on his face. _How is he always so happy and carefree? _Yami thought to himself. He realised that Yugi was forever upbeat about everything, never letting anything bother him. Apart from a few times when Yugi had acted quite strangely, he was always happy and not bothered by anything. The times he had been acting strangely though, he had tried his best to cover it and appear happy. _How does he do that? _Yami thought. He was never good at concealing his emotions, as Yugi and Joey had discovered in the past couple of weeks, when something bothers him this much he loses his strong, controlled nature and falls into a clumsy mess.

"Enjoying the view?" Yugi asked, joining Yami at the railing.

Yami nodded, "It is a great sight from up here," he agreed. He then looked over to Yugi, who was shaking out his arm. "I didn't crush you before, did I?" he asked.

Yugi laughed, "My arm feels dead but apart from that, no," he said. "And Joey is still sound asleep, I don't know how he does it."

Yami cracked a smile, "Yes, he's an odd one, our Joey."

Yugi laughed at Yami's phrase, _our Joey. _It had made it sound as if they were his parents. Trying to avoid thinking of him and Yami as a couple, Yugi turned and looked out at the city again.

Yami almost jumped when he felt a vibration in his pocket, and he realised he had fallen asleep with his phone still in his jeans _again. _He pulled it out, wondering who on earth would be texting him at this time of morning.

When he looked at the screen he just stared.

Yugi looked at him with a confused expression, "What is it?" he asked, "What's the matter?"

Yami stared at the phone in his hands, "It's her," he said.

Yugi didn't need to hear the name to know who he was talking about. He hesitated, but then said, "What does it say?"

Yami realised he had just been staring at the unopened message, so he pressed on the touch screen to read it.

**_Yami i'm really sorry for what i did, Austin is a jerk and i never want to see him again, please forgive me i need you :(_**

A wave of emotions hit Yami like a tidal wave, and he had to put his hand on the railing in front of him to steady himself. This was the last thing he had expected, and he had no idea what to think of it, let alone what to do about it. His heart ached at the last few words, as his old protectiveness over her surfaced, making him want to look after her like he had promised her he would so many times. But the other part of him-the more realistic part-reminded him of her phone call with Joey. Even if she was completely and utterly sorry and willing to start again with him, nothing could take back the weeks of pain he had been through because of her. He knew things would never be like they used to be, not after what had happened. He knew he still had feelings for her, heck he had been in love with her, but he had to push them aside and look at the reality of the situation, he couldn't let himself get dragged into that trap again. Never, he had told himself, would he fall in love again. And going back to Briana would only mean he would get hurt again. His conflicting thoughts clouded his head, and he could barely think straight.

Yugi watched Yami, feeling quite concerned; whatever was in that text message was obviously bothering him greatly. Yami finally threw the phone away from him, willing for his mind to shut up. It was like there were two different parts of him in a never ending conflict, and both sides were nagging at him. He just wanted to forget about this whole mess, and that text message had sent him straight back to square one. He put both hands on the railing in front of him, looking at the ground as he tried to clear his thoughts.

Yugi carefully walked over to where Yami's phone had landed, and picked it up, curiously looking at the screen. Upon reading the text message, he looked over at Yami, who was leaning over with his hands on the railing, looking at the ground.

Yugi carefully walked up next to him, "Are you alright?" he asked.

Yami was silent for a moment as he stared at the ground. All his old emotions were bubbling up to the surface, and he had tried so hard to push them all down up until this point, locking them away in the depths of his mind. But unfortunately, you can't keep everything locked away forever.

He sighed, "why won't it go away?" he mumbled.

Yugi was quite confused, "Why won't what go away?" he asked, still holding Yami's phone.

Yami shook his head, standing up straight again, "Everything, all of this," he gestured towards the phone. "I thought if I avoided her for long enough I'd be okay, but this has just..." he wasn't sure how to say 'fucked my head up' in a nice way, so he didn't.

Yugi smiled sympathetically at him, "come on, let's go back into the penthouse where it's warm and sort this out," he suggested. Yami sighed and nodded, and he followed Yugi back down the stairs. Yugi noticed this had brought back his clumsiness, as he almost tripped down the stairs quite a few times. Yugi grabbed his arm to steady him, finding it interesting that such events affected his motor skills. They walked into the kitchen and Yami sat down on one of the stools, putting his head in his hands, while Yugi walked over to the fridge.

"Do you want a glass of water?" he asked.

Yami nodded, not lifting his head up, "yes please," he said through his hands. Yugi fetched him some water and sat down next to Yami, watching him carefully.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Yugi asked after a moment.

Yami sighed, "I guess I should, otherwise it'll all just destroy me from the inside..." he said, lifting his head up to take a sip of the water. Yugi sat patiently as Yami thought about where to begin, and they spent the next half an hour sitting there as Yami spoke, revealing his nagging thoughts on the situation and how he had pushed it all down to try and forget about it.

Until now.

* * *

There you go, two updates in one night! Im back in the swing of things :D

Hope you liked this chapter, took me a little while to write cause i wasn't sure how to write Yami's reaction to the message, but this works so i stuck with it.

I'm always happy to hear your thoughts, too!

The more feedback I get, the faster I write ;) funny how it works that way, isn't it? I'm being serious though it gives me motivation :P

Anyway, I've done enough for tonight and have to work in 8 hours, so i should probably get to bed, goodnight and enjoy!

PharaohsThrone :)


	13. Chapter 13 - A Rude Awakening

**Chapter 13 - A Rude Awakening**

"You shouldn't keep things bottled up like that," Yugi said to Yami, both of them now sitting on the couch in the centre of the penthouse. They had been talking for so long that the stools at the bench had become uncomfortable, so they had migrated here.

Yami sighed, "I know that now," he said, "I thought the best way to get over Briana and forget about all of it was to just push down all those terrible feelings and just lock it all up. I guess I was just trying to avoid facing it," he admitted.

Yugi nodded, "Sometimes you just have to face things head on, no matter how much you despise it," he said. Yami noticed something in his eyes that said Yugi had personal experience with this. "But don't worry, you have me and Joey, you don't have to do it alone," he smiled.

Yami smiled for the first time in hours, "Thank you, Yugi."

"Any time," Yugi said, "What are friends for?" he said, shrugging his shoulders.

Yami cracked a bigger smile, "Being the best," he said, before grabbing Yugi and pulling the boy towards him to ruffle his hair.

Yugi laughed, batting Yami's hands away from him, "Dammit Yami, you ruined my hair," he said, furrowing his eyebrows as he tried to look up to it.

Yami chuckled, "Your hair looks fine Yugi."

They continued to talk until it was almost sunrise, and eventually they both fell asleep there on the couch, only this time the couch was big enough to fit the both of them.

...

_Yugi woke up to find that Yami had his arm slung over him. Confused, he sat up, noticing that before when they had fallen asleep Yami was far from where he was now. Had he moved all the way over here while he was sleeping? Odd. Yugi carefully lifted up Yami's arm and put it back by his side. As much as Yugi wished for Yami to intentionally do something like that, he was sure it was just a mistake. It was still amusing none the less. Yugi was about to move to the opposite part of the couch where Yami had previously been, when Yami started mumbling something. _

_"Yugi..." he said dreamily, hugging the couch pillow. Yugi stopped and stared, not believing what he had just heard. This must be a mistake, it had to be. Yami would never have romantic feelings towards Yugi, and he knew that very well. So what was going on? He decided to wake the man up to see what was going on. _

_"Yami," he said, nudging him, "Yami, wake up." The man groaned and slowly opened his eyes, not seeming bothered by the fact that he had moved all the way over next to Yugi. _

_"What's the matter?" Yami asked, rubbing his eyes. _

_"What...what were you just dreaming about?" Yugi asked him. _

_Yami didn't hesitate to answer, "Why you of course," he said with a coy smile. _

_"You...what?" Yugi couldn't believe what he was hearing, "What do you mean?"_

_"Isn't it obvious?" Yami said, sitting up to look into Yugi's eyes, "I've had feelings for you for quite some time, it's only natural that I should dream about you."_

_Yugi wasn't quite sure what was going on, but he couldn't say that he didn't like it. Without another word, Yami leaned in towards him to plant a soft, gentle kiss on Yugi's lips._

THUMP!

Quite startled, Yugi woke to the feeling of hitting the cold tiled floor. The surprise sent him into a mini freak attack, and he scrambled into a sitting position. He had fallen off the couch. He looked around, Yami was still sleeping in the same place he had been when they had fallen asleep, and there was morning light filtering in through the windows.

Yugi sighed, "It was just a dream," he said to himself. "Geez, I wish my mind didn't do that to me," he said, running his hands through his hair as he tried to calm his breathing from the being so rudely woken. "What a weird dream though."

"Everything alright?" Yami asked. Yugi almost jumped ten feet in the air, he had not realised that Yami had woken. Upon noticing Yugi's startled expression, Yami chuckled, "It's okay, it's just me. What was so weird about your dream?" he asked curiously.

Yugi stumbled over words to use, "Um, it was just, I dunno, weird," he said, scratching his head awkwardly.

Yami gave him an odd look, "Yugi, you're blushing," he said. "That doesn't indicate that you were having such a _weird _dream," he said with a smirk.

This only made Yugi blush even more, "That's irrelevant," he said, trying to move the conversation away from his dream. He looked at the clock, it was just past 10am. "Shit!" he exclaimed, scrambling to his feet, "I have to go!" he started to run in circles around the penthouse, gathering up his stuff.

"What do you mean?" Yami asked, sitting up. "Why are you in such a rush?"

Yugi quickly pulled his shirt on, "There's somewhere I have to be," he said, before dumping his feet into his shoes.

"Do you want me to drive you?" Yami asked, standing up. Yugi tried to avoid looking at Yami as he was still in his underwear from the previous nights events. It only brought back thoughts from his dream and the idea of something that could never be.

"No, no, it's fine, I can walk," Yugi said, looking quite flustered as he grabbed his jacket and back pack and ran for the door. "Thanks for letting me stay Yami!" he said, before disappearing out the front door of the penthouse. Yami just stood there looking dumb founded. Yugi's behaviour was odd to say the least, and Yami didn't have a clue why. Whatever he was going to must have been pretty important, so why didn't he mention it before?

Joey had obviously woken from the commotion. "What's going on?" he asked, emerging from the bedroom with a severe case of bed hair, "Where'd you guys go?"

Yami sat back down on the couch, "Well you pushed Yugi and I out of bed so we crashed out here," he said, "But he just woke up and left in a frantic state, apparently he has to be somewhere, but he didn't want me to drive him even though he's already late."

Joey was quite confused, "That's weird," he said, "he never mentioned anything to me about having to be somewhere today." He walked over and sat down on the couch next to Yami. "Where do you think he went?" Joey asked.

Yami shrugged and shook his head, "I don't know, but he seemed pretty flustered."

...

Yugi quickly ran down the unfamiliar street, holding a crumpled piece of paper in his hand. On it were some crudely scribbled letters and numbers, resembling an address. This didn't look like a very nice neighborhood, but he wasn't surprised, considering where he was going. He finally matched the address on the slip of paper with one of the buildings, and nervously tapped on the front door. He looked around, there was graffiti all over the fences and bins, and the lawn hadn't been mowed in weeks by the looks of it. He tried to calm his breathing so as not to look so nervous. Once this was all over, he would never have to come here again. He just had to be brave for the moment, despite how much this scared him. But what else could he do? He had ran out of options, and this was his last resort. He couldn't let his grandpa down, not now and not ever. The door swung open revealing a tall, gruff man, who looked down at the boy with a smirk.

"Well, if it isn't little Yugi," he said roughly, "You're late."

* * *

ooooh Yugi's in trooooouble...

not really.

or is he?

dun dun duuuuun!

okay im done now :D Hope you liked this chapter, thought it all up in my head almost word for word whilst on my way to work this morning, actually i do a lot of thinking about my stories on the way to work, considering i have to ride my bike and it takes me 35 minutes to do so, so it gets quite boring.

Anyway! back to the story, what do you think is causing Yugi's odd behaviour? apart from the obvious that is XD (he wants to be in Yami's pants ;) but i didn't tell you that!) the suspense! well, i hope there's suspense anyway...or is that not the right word? i dunno, its only 11:30pm and my mind is already going weird, grrrr.

Always happy to hear what you think!

PharaohsThrone :)


	14. Chapter 14 - An Unexpected Visitor

**Chapter 14 - An Unexpected Visitor**

Yugi's behaviour back at the hotel seemed to be a one-off, Yami thought, as after that he was back to his usual self, and had apologised for rushing out so quickly. Yami noticed that after the hotel, Yugi didn't ever seem nervous or worried about anything as he had noticed a few times before. The unease Yugi had been trying to hide previously was now completely gone, and Yami had almost forgotten about it. As for Yami, since he had gotten everything off of his chest back at the hotel, he was finding it easier to get over Briana. Yes he still had feelings for her, but each time he thought of her now he didn't feel a pain in his chest at all (which was previously caused by him bottling everything up). He was still upset about the whole thing, but he could deal with it, and he was getting over it thanks to Yugi and Joey. He had also noticed that his friendship with Yugi was now closer than that of him and Joey, but he liked that. There was something about Yugi that put him at ease, the boy just radiated happiness. It was hard not to be happy around him, really, and being with Yugi always made Yami happy. He now always looked forward to when they'd hang out, usually after Yami's uni classes and they'd then stay at Yugi's house as his Grandpa still wasn't out of hospital yet. Yami also noticed that he was observing Yugi more closely without previously realising it. This being the particular way that he dressed, which was much similar to Yami's style of clothing, the way that his eyes lit up whenever he laughed, and the cute look of concentration he had when playing Duel Monsters. Yami always smiled in amusement whenever he watched Yugi think of a strategy against him.

It was these small things however, which had Yami quite confused. His feelings towards Yugi felt like they were different to that of a normal friend's, but he couldn't understand why. He cared for Yugi deeply, but it felt different to the way he cared for Joey for example. It was quite puzzling to him and he couldn't figure out why he was so smitten with Yugi. The boy had become his favourite person, he couldn't deny that, but he was constantly assessing his thoughts towards Yugi and why it felt so different to any other friend he'd ever had. It was quite challenging to do.

It was now a few weeks on from their hotel trip, and Yami was in his apartment by himself, having just gotten home from uni. He was in the kitchen making lunch, anticipating a visit from Yugi any minute. He had some music playing on the stereo at a moderate volume, so when he thought he heard some odd noises he couldn't have been sure. At first he thought he had heard the front door open, but when he looked over his shoulder nobody was walking out of the entryway, so he assumed he must have just been hearing things. He turned his back to the door and continued making his lunch. He had started to quietly sing along to the songs, so he could have never heard the person sneaking up behind him. What he did hear however, was the sound of someone accidentally kicking the mouse trap that was on the floor. Confused, he turned around, only to be caught in shock by the feeling of a pair of lips pressed against his. Even with his eyes wide, he couldn't tell who it was, as all he could see was a blur of closed eye lids. What he did know however, was that it was a girl.

Yugi was currently making his way along Yami's street, whistling to himself as he went. He was in a particularly happy mood today (even happier than usual, which could be hard to believe he could get even more cheerful). He and Yami were going to visit his grandpa today, who was now booked in to go into surgery soon. After so many long and painful weeks, his grandpa was finally going to be able to walk again. Solomon meant a lot to Yugi, having been raised by him and looked after him for many years, and now he was the only family Yugi had left. It was no surprise the lengths Yugi would go to to help his grandpa, and as long as Solomon lived, the man was never going to know what those lengths were, as he surely wouldn't approve of them. Yugi was proud of himself though, he had managed to bite down his fears and some of his morals in order to achieve what had seemed like the impossible only weeks ago. And he had done it all by himself, with no help from anybody. This just proved how much Yugi had grown since he had left school, he was becoming a man and he was more confident in himself, knowing that he could accomplish almost anything now. There was just one more thing he had to do, then this whole mess would be over and he wouldn't have to worry about any of it ever again. He was quite confident that he would be able to do it too, he had almost reached his goal and once he had done that he would be in the clear.

He walked up the front steps of Yami's apartment with a sense of relief, and not missing the usual smile he held, he opened the door and walked in. What he was confronted with when he entered however was far from anything he had expected. He stopped in his tracks and stared wide eyed across the room to the kitchen, where Yami was currently locking lips with an unfamiliar girl. Yugi felt a hot flush go through him, whether in jealousy or embarrassment on walking in on them he wasn't sure. As soon as he had seen it though, he turned on his heel and walked out the door swiftly. He stopped on the stairs outside of Yami's apartment, not quite sure how to feel. He knew he had feelings for Yami, and he knew that Yami was straight and that he'd never have a chance with him, so why did that scene bother him so much? He'd accepted the fact that Yami could never be his, but it still pained Yugi to see him with someone else. It didn't matter anyway, Yami could do whatever and be with whoever he wanted, nothing was stopping him.

It was probably better that way though, Yugi thought, because that would eventually convince him that thinking about Yami would be a waste of time, as the other would never think of him as more than a friend. Yugi sighed, and was about to turn to leave, when he heard something from inside the apartment.

"What the hell are you doing?" It was Yami's voice, and upon hearing it, Yugi ran back up the steps and pressed his ear against the screen door to listen.

A few moments after the girl had kissed Yami, he had recognised the familiarity of her lips, and realised it was Briana. For a split second he had to admit, he did kiss back, as all the old memories of them together flooded his mind, almost bringing back the old sense of security he had with her. Then he had realised what he was doing, and pushed her off of him, demanding what the hell she was doing.

Briana regained her composure after being pushed backwards, "Didn't you get any of my text messages?" she asked.

"For a matter of fact, I have," Yami said, not pleased by her presence. "All 300 of them."

"Then what's your answer?" she asked, stepping closer to him to place her hand on his chest. He had to fight off the part of him that longed for the past, knowing that it would be a terrible idea.

He pushed her hand away from him, "The answer is no," he said with finality. "What makes you think you can suddenly show up after all this time and expect me to forgive you?" he asked.

"Well," she stuttered, "I just, I miss you," she said, staring into his eyes. "I know what I did was wrong, I realise that, but Austin is a complete jerk and I never should have trusted him," she said. She was almost pleading with him now. "Please Yami, I can't stand being away from you," she begged.

"Well you should have thought of that before you slept with _him_," Yami retorted.

"I told you I'm sorry-"

"Yeah well sorry doesn't fix the weeks it's taken me to get over you, I almost destroyed myself and my apartment because of you," he said, his arms now folded across his chest. As he said that she noticed the feint scars on his hands, backing up what he had just said. "Nothing can take back the pain you put me through, and I'm not going to let it happen again," he said harshly.

Briana then took a step back, folding her arms also, "then why did you kiss me back?" she demanded.

He unfolded his arms, and decided to be honest with her, "Because I do still have feelings for you and there is a part of me who wants what we used to have," he explained, "but I pushed you away because that was what we _used _to have, and it'll never be like that again. Besides, I've come so far from you now and I'm happy where I am. I've made a best friend from this whole experience and he means more to me than you ever will. I'm done with you, Bri."

Yami could tell she was angry. She looked beyond angry, but he didn't care, he was proud of himself for what he had just said, and he'd say it again to her face if he had to. Briana's response however was to bring the palm of her hand across his cheek in a slap that would have made him stumble backwards if the kitchen bench had not been behind him. His eyes widened as he brought his hand up to his cheek, where a burning red mark was now forming.

"Dick," Briana spat, before turning on her heel and storming out of the apartment.

* * *

tada! thus the character that makes an appearance of which i mentioned a couple of chapters ago :P I really like this chapter too, i enjoyed writing it immensely XD didn't want Yami to sound like a dick tho, but hey he has a good point doesn't he :P

my original ideas for this chapter are longer than the chapter though, so ive had to split it in 2! I hope you appreciate the fact that this chapter is longer than usual though, i wanted to award you all for being so wonderful XD

But really i just started writing and was then like wait this is really long i should stop writing now :P

The next instalment of To Mend A Broken Heart _should _be up in a few hours if i can get the ball rolling with the next chapter, so sit tight and there may be another update soon!

Over and out,

PharaohsThrone :)


	15. Chapter 15 - Revelation

**Chapter 15 - Revelation**

Yami was left standing in the kitchen with his hand against his cheek where Briana had just slapped him. It stung, but that wasn't what he was thinking about. He was a bit confused about her kiss. He had kissed her so many times before, but this time it had felt completely different. Even though he still had feelings for her and there was a part of him that still wanted her, the feeling of kissing her hadn't given him any pleasure at all. This made him think that perhaps he didn't have feelings for her anymore, and was just assuming that he did as he still thought about her often. He wasn't sure. The kiss had felt weird, as if he wasn't interested in it in any way. But he would have thought that he'd always be interested in kissing a girl, even if it was his ex. He stared towards the front door where Bri had just disappeared, feeling quite confused.

Yugi had been standing outside the front door listening the whole time, and he had felt relieved at Yami's response to Briana. He didn't know what he would have done if they had gotten back together. Yugi didn't know Bri at all, but he imagined that he would just get shut out, and that was the last thing he wanted. He was also very happy when he heard Yami say _'he means more to me than you ever will'. _It was kind of a given, but it still gave Yugi butterflies hearing it, and he had a cute little grin on his face as he stood outside the door. Yugi was surprised when Briana then stormed out the front door, not even sparing him a glance as she made her way down the stairs and then out of sight. She did not look happy at all.

_Geez, _he thought, _Yami's ex is nuts. _He turned back to the door and walked in, before spotting Yami standing in the place he had been before. He was staring at the door where Yugi had just emerged from, with his hand held up to his cheek where Briana had slapped him.

Yami was surprised to see Yugi walk through the door just after Briana had left, and he assumed he must have heard at least part of what had just happened. What he realised though, was that upon seeing Yugi, he smiled and felt a sense of happiness flow through him. Yugi always did that to him, his cheerfulness was contagious almost. Yami could think of nothing else in that moment but how happy he was to see Yugi. And it was in that split second when he smiled at Yugi that Yami realised something.

_Could I actually have feelings for Yugi? _He thought,_ Could this be why I've been feeling different towards him than any other friend? _

Yami stood there, staring at his best friend, and realised that the thought of being with Yugi romantically interested him more than that of being with Briana, or any other girl for that matter.

_Oh dear, _he thought, _I think I have a crush on my best friend. And it's a male! _

Yugi walked over to the kitchen where Yami was, intrigued by his facial expression. He appeared to be deep in thought, and as Yugi watched him carefully, he noticed the angry red mark on Yami's cheek.

"Are you okay?" Yugi asked him.

Yami's eyes focused on Yugi again, and he smiled. "Yes, I'm great actually."

...

As Yami drove Yugi to the hospital later that day, Yugi was filling him in on his grandpa's condition. He explained how He'd finally be able to get his hip replacement, and it had been threatening his ability to walk. If Yugi's grandpa had been unable to walk, it would have been disastrous for Yugi and the game shop, so he was very relieved that his grandpa would be okay in a matter of weeks.

"When is he going to have the operation?" Yami asked.

Yugi thought for a moment, "well there's a bit of a list, so I think it's in about a month," he said.

"That long?" Yami asked as they approached the hospital.

Yugi nodded, "He's booked in for it but he still has to wait a while, but it's okay, at least he'll be all better soon."

Yami nodded, "yes that's very good indeed." They reached the hospital and after spending ten minutes trying to find a parking spot, they walked in the door and headed for Solomon's room. Yugi had visited enough times that he knew how to get to his grandpa's room with his eyes closed if he had to. They reached the room and Yugi poked his head in, hoping his grandpa wasn't in the middle of a nap. Yami stood back, politely waiting to be invited in.

"Yugi!" the old man cheered, "how are you my boy?" Yugi smiled and walked in, signaling for Yami to follow. Yami was surprised at how bright and cheerful the old man was, and he assumed that was where Yugi got his attitude from. _What a delightful family Yugi must have had_, he thought. He felt sorry for the boy as his grandpa was the only family he had left.

"I'm pretty good gramps," Yugi said, "how are you feeling?" he asked.

"Well, I've been better," he said, "but I'll be even better soon thanks to you," he said with a chuckle. Yami stepped over next to Yugi, unable to stop himself from smiling at the scene. He didn't have the kind of relationship with his family that Yugi had with his grandpa, it was quite special he thought.

Solomon then noticed Yami, "Why hello, you must be Yami," he said with a cheerful smile, "I've heard a lot about you," he winked at the man.

Yugi laughed nervously, "Uh, that's quite enough gramps."

Yami was slightly surprised at the old man's approach, but he just chuckled. "It's nice to meet you Mr Mutou."

"Oh please," the old man waved a carefree hand at him, "call me grandpa, everyone else does anyway." Yugi laughed, remembering the way in which Joey interacted with the old man, it was usually quite amusing. "I heard that you almost ended up in here yourself," Yugi's grandpa continued, "You can never be too careful you know."

Yami chuckled, remembering the incident involving a lightbulb and a computer chair. "Yes, well I'm a bit smarter with those sorts of things now," he admitted.

"Good," the old man said, "I'm sure Yugi doesn't want you needing a hip replacement as well," he laughed.

Yami chuckled, looking over to Yugi, "Indeed."

* * *

BAM! You guys better love me ;)

I bet you love Yami now! he's come over to the dark side ;) hehehe

Hope you all liked the chapter! and i apologise for not getting it done earlier, i went to bed cause i was so tired :P

but anyway, we're one step closer to the happy ending, but something else has to happen before this story comes to an end, and you won't know until it happens!

Always happy to hear what you think!

PharaohsThrone :)


	16. Chapter 16 - Meet My Fist

**Chapter 16 - Meet My Fist**

"Achoo!"

Yugi scrambled across the couch towards the box of tissues that were sitting on the coffee table, only to sneeze again before he reached them. Yami then walked into the room holding a small mug of warm soup.

"What on earth are you doing?" Yami asked, placing the soup down on the table.

Yugi blew his nose, and then answered, "I was sitting on the opposite end of the couch to the tissues," he said. Yami smiled and shook his head, Yugi's voice sounded adorable when he was sick. The boy had been out the previous day in the wind and the rain, claiming that it would do him no harm, but this morning he had woken up feeling quite sick. Of course, Yami had come over after he'd finished uni to look after the guy, so he could rest and get better. Yugi pulled the soft blanket back up around him as he grabbed the warm cup of soup in his hands, breathing in its aroma.

"You owe me for this," Yami said, picking up the plastic bag that was now full of snotty tissues, "I feel like a house wife."

Yugi chuckled, taking a sip of the soup, "can you do the washing and iron my clothes then, too?" he asked with a grin.

"Not happening," Yami said, walking out of the room. Although the task of looking after sick Yugi sounded like a drag, having to do all these little trivial tasks for him, Yami didn't mind it. He was happy to do anything for Yugi if it meant he was with him. Yami was still quite confused about his feelings towards Yugi, but he definitely knew they were there. It was quite weird, as he'd never expected to feel this way towards the same sex, but he figured he'd just play it out and see what happened. It was quite cute though looking after sick Yugi, seeing the boy all curled up on the couch with his soup and tissues. Yami walked back into the room having disposed the bag os used tissues, and picked up the TV remote.

"Want to watch a movie?" he asked.

Yugi nodded, placing the soup down, now half empty. After a few minutes of Yami raiding Yugi's cupboard of DVDs, they found a light hearted movie to watch that they could talk through if they wanted to. Yami set up the DVD player, before sitting next to Yugi on the couch. Yugi offered him the rest of the blanket, and Yami shook his head.

"You look cold enough as it is, keep it," he said with a chuckle. Yugi nodded and wrapped the blanket around himself in an attempt to warm himself up. Yami looked out the window and noticed that it had started raining outside. "What do you know," he said, "perfect weather to stay in and watch movies." Yugi agreed as he settled back against the couch.  
They started watching the movie, talking and joking through it, and Yami noticed that Yugi was shivering.

"Are you still cold?" he asked. Yugi nodded, he had the blanket completely wrapped around himself. Yami had to try not to chuckle at how cute it was.

"Come here," he said, holding his arms out, "bro hug. It'll warm you up." It only took a second for Yugi to untangle himself from the blanket and move over to Yami to accept the invitation of warmth.

"Ah, you _are_ warm," Yugi said with a chuckle. "Thank you." Yami smiled down at Yugi while the boy wasn't looking. He was enjoying this a bit too muc_h. _Yami then reminded himself not to get too caught up in these feelings he had for Yugi. He remembered the vow he had made to himself.

_I can't let myself get hurt again_, he thought. He then mentally brushed it off, it wasn't like this would go anywhere anyway, so he decided he would just admire Yugi from a distance until it passed.

_If_ it passed that is.

Eventually Yugi pulled away, content that he was warm and pulled the blanket around himself again. Yami was slightly disappointed, but they continued to watch the movie until eventually, they both fell asleep.

...

Yami woke from his dream to light shining in his eyes. He groaned and looked up, noticing that it was morning. He looked over and saw Yugi was still curled up in the blanket next to him. Yami smiled, it was a very cute sight. He reached up into the air, stretching out his back with a low groan, before he stood up and looked out the window idly. It was a beautiful day, much better than the day before that had been rainy and gloomy. The sun was high in the sky and there was almost no clouds in sight. Maybe it would do Yugi some good to spend some time out in the sun. Some vitamin D always helps. Yami then looked at the clock, and realised that he had to be at uni in half an hour. He cursed under his breath and ran into the kitchen, grabbing a pen and paper to scribble a not for Yugi when he woke up.

_Had to go to uni, I'll be back around 1, hope you're feeling better :)_  
_Yami_

With that, he grabbed his jacket and darted out the door. He had walked to Yugi's house yesterday, so he had to run back to his apartment to pick up his car and drive in. It was a good 20 minutes drive to the campus, and about a 10 minute walk to his home from Yugi's. He was pretty sure he'd be okay for time, but it didn't stop him from walking at a fairly fast pace. He walked briskly along the streets, dodging people as he went, but when he turned a corner around a building, he ran straight into someone. They both made their own versions of 'Ooph!' and Yami stumbled back. He looked up, wondering why the other didn't do the same, and his eyes widened. This was the last person he had expected to run into.

"_You_," the tall, well built man bellowed, narrowing his eyes.

"Austin," Yami said, surprised. The last time Yami had seen this man was when he walked in on Austin having sex with his ex girlfriend. Yami shook his head and went to walk straight past the massive man, but Austin stepped in front of him again.

"Austin, get out of my way, I have somewhere to be," Yami said, glaring up at the man. He didn't want any trouble, but if he had to use force to get Austin to move, he would.

"Well I have a bone to pick with you," Austin growled, towering over Yami with an unpleasant glare.

Yami looked at him for a moment, as they both glared at each other, before he just rolled his eyes and tried to step to the side again, "I haven't got time for this." This time when he tried to pass, Austin grabbed him by the shirt and shoved him against the wall. Yami made a grunt when his back hit the hard surface, and he glared up at Austin; his patience was wearing thin.

"What the hell do you want?!" Yami demanded.

"I had Briana right where I wanted her," Austin said through clenched teeth, "And then _you_ had to ruin it!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Yami said, frustrated. "I've been done with her since I walked in on you two." Yami almost didn't realise that upon saying that, he didn't feel any sort of sadness like he used to, and he was glad. He was proud of himself for coming out of this mess on top. But he couldn't figure out why Austin of all people seemed to have a problem with him.

"But she went back to you!" he raged. "I had finally won her, and you were out of the picture, but for some reason she still wanted _you_ instead of me!" he gripped Yami's collar even tighter. Yami raised his chin to try and avoid getting choked by his shirt.

"Well I rejected her sorry ass, she's your problem, not mine," he said, still glaring up at Austin.

For some reason Yami's comment enraged the man even more, and he let go of Yami's shirt, only to send his fist into the shorter man's gut. Yami's eyes widened as he felt the breath go out of him, and he hunched over for a moment, shocked at the sudden abuse.

"Meet my fist you scrawny piece of crap," he spat. It was at this point that Yami realised he probably wasn't going to get to uni on time.

* * *

I'm so sorry for taking so long to update! I had writers block for this chapter :( i had written half of it but then every time i went to write it i just couldn't D: but then i got the idea of Yami running into Austin and im all good now :D but oh no! what will Yami do?

you'll have to wait and see ;)

over and out,

PharaohsThrone


	17. Chapter 17 - Helpless Lies

**Chapter 17 - Helpless Lies**

Austin swung his fist at Yami again, but he anticipated this one and ducked out of the way, before retaliating by punching him in the jaw. Austin's head snapped back from the blow and he fumed, staring down at Yami with wide angry eyes.

"So you want to play it that way?" Austin said, cracking his knuckles, "The let's dance pretty boy." Austin obviously had the upper hand, having already backed Yami into a wall, and being a whole head taller than him. Not to mention how much body mass he had on the lean man. What neither of them anticipated though, was Yami's secret weapon. And no, not even he knew about it. Austin went to swing his fist towards Yami's face, when a force hit him from behind, and he punched the wall instead. Yami looked up, wide eyed and confused, to see a smaller boy had jumped onto Austin's back.

"Yugi!" he said, shocked at the boy's presence.

Austin cursed after punching the wall and flailed his arms around, swearing as he tried to shake Yugi off of him. "Get off of me!" he raged. Yugi held onto Austin, putting his hands over the man's eyes so he couldn't see. Yami watched in astonishment. Austin stumbled across the footpath, trying to bat at Yugi with his hands, before he tripped on the gutter and fell face first onto the ground. Yugi landed on top of him, sitting on the man's back. The boy looked quite surprised that he had managed to do that, and Yami gave him a thankful smile. They had momentarily forgotten about Austin however.

"You fucking brat!" Austin raged, grabbing Yugi by the shirt and throwing the boy off of him. Yugi skidded to the ground with a yelp, and Yami called out his name, before Austin stood up and marched over to Yami, stopping him from going to Yugi's aid.

"You're about to enter a whole new world of pain," the taller man growled, towering over him. Yami stood his ground, and in the distance he heard someone call out Austin's name. Austin's head snapped up, recognising the owner of the voice. "Oh shit..." he said. He gave Yami and Yugi one last glance, before he darted in the opposite direction. Obviously whoever was after him he did not want to see. Yami stared after the man for only a second before he ran over to Yugi, who was sitting on the footpath.

"Yugi, what are you doing here?" he asked, not bothering to hide the concern in his voice as he kneeled next to the boy, "You're sick, you should be at home," he put his hand on Yugi's shoulder.

Yugi looked up at him and shrugged, pulling an object out of his pocket, "you left your phone at my house," he said, holding it up. Yami took the phone from Yugi with a smile, but he still wasn't sure that it was a good enough excuse to come after him. It may not have been the best excuse, but Yugi just wanted to see Yami before he left for uni. Silly? Maybe, but he didn't care.

"Who was that guy anyway?" Yugi asked him. Yami looked down the street to where Austin had disappeared.

"That was Austin, the man who I found with Briana," he explained, still looking down the street. He then turned back to Yugi, "for some reason he blamed me for Bri leaving him."

"You mean when she came back for you?" Yugi asked, remembering when he had found her kissing Yami in his apartment.

Yami nodded, "Yes, I'm not quite sure what happened with them, but it's not my problem anymore," he said. He then lightened his tone, "Now you should be at home getting rest."

"But I feel better now," Yugi protested, giving Yami an encouraging smile.

Yami shook his head at the boy, "Doesn't matter, you looked terrible yesterday," he said, "You need to rest."

Yugi crossed his arms to sulk, "Well if you're going to uni I could do whatever I want really," he said. "You won't be around to stop me," Yugi said with an evil grin.

"Oh yeah?" Yami said, standing up. He looked down at Yugi, still sitting on the footpath, "I'm already too late to even bother going today," he said, "so it looks like you're stuck with me."

...

Yami stood, grinning as he watched Yugi curl up in his blanket again, a grumpy look of defeat on the boy's face.

"Happy?" he said.

Yami nodded, "Very much so, now stay there and don't move," he said, pointing a long finger at him. Yugi sighed, and picked up his game controller. At least he still had something to do, he thought.

Yami turned to walk into the kitchen, "do you want a drink or anything?" he asked.

"No, _mother_," Yugi said, staring at the TV screen.

Yami chuckled so Yugi couldn't hear, "Don't be so grumpy, I'm doing you a favor here."

"Yeah, yeah I know," Yugi said, now engulfed in the video game. Yami smiled and shook his head, before he walked into the kitchen to get himself a glass of water. As he was walking back out to the living room, the phone started ringing.

"Are you expecting a call?" Yami asked Yugi.

Yugi looked towards the kitchen with a confused look, "Not that I know of..." he untangled himself from the blanket and wandered into the kitchen to answer the phone. Yami simply sat down on the couch, looking at the TV screen to see what game Yugi had been playing.

"Hello?" he heard Yugi speak into the phone. His voice then sounded somewhat alarmed as he hushed his voice, "What? I thought I told you _not_ to call me on this number again!" His annoyance then was abruptly replaced with what sounded like...fear? "I'm sorry! Sorry, I just-it's not the best-" whoever was on the other end obviously cut him off. Yugi sounded very flustered by this point. Yami could hear Yugi jumping from foot to foot on the tiled floor, something he commonly did when he was nervous.

"What?!" his sudden outburst surprised Yami, and he noticed that Yugi quickly lowered his voice again, "But I'm only half way!" he protested, "Please just give me some more time," he pleaded, "I won't let you down, I promise." There was silence for a few moments, before Yugi said, "thank you," and hung up with a heavy sigh.

Yami had no idea what to think of what he had just heard. It reminded him of the phone call Yugi had received the first night that Yami had stayed at his house. He sat there on the couch with his eyebrows furrowed, wondering whether to confront Yugi about it or not. It seemed to be the source of whatever had been bothering him, and Yami hated to see Yugi so worried, especially when he didn't know what the cause was. He wished that Yugi didn't have to hide such things from him, he thought that they were close enough now that there would be no need for this kind of behaviour. Then again, what if nobody knew about it? Not Joey, not his Grandpa, not anyone? That's a whole different story. If Yugi was hiding something from everyone, it must be something big. But what could it be? And why was it causing him so much stress?

Yugi walked back into the room, giving Yami a fake smile, which he picked up instantly. _There's no way he's going to tell me what that was about_, Yami thought sadly.

"Everything alright?" Yami asked as Yugi sat back down on the couch.

Yugi continued to smile half heartedly as he picked up his controller. Sure, he appeared the be smiling, but it hadn't reached his eyes, and this worried Yami. "Yes, all good, just Grandpa calling to check up on me," he said. Yami's heart sank, he had hoped that Yugi would never need to lie to him, but there he was, looking him in the eye and lying to his face. Yami sighed internally, if he was going to confront Yugi about it, it wouldn't be today.

He just hoped that Yugi would confide in him before he needed to do that.

* * *

anyone have any idea what Yugi is hiding? I hope not, cause if you do then I haven't hidden it well enough! Well I'm pretty sure I have, but feel free to take a stab at it, i might let you know if you're close ;)

So yet another eventful chapter, hopefully if all goes well this story won't have more than 25 chapters, so we're nearing the end! And boy is it gonna rock your socks ;)

i hope

anyway, let me know what you think!

PharaohsThrone :)


	18. Chapter 18 - Collection Night

**Chapter 18 - Collection Night**

Love.

What a foolish mistake, Yami had thought. To let himself fall into such a trap only for his heart to be torn to pieces. He had promised himself that he would never let that happen again, never let such a foolish mistake cause him such heartache as it did before. This had seemed like a simple task, all he needed to do was stay away from women, and he would be fine. Well, that's exactly what he did and he still found himself struggling to keep his promise. He had not bothered to worry about the feelings he had for Yugi, as it had just been an innocent crush. Now however, these feelings were threatening to tear down everything he had built up over the past couple of months. He now found it hard to control his thoughts, as the boy occupied his mind almost all of the time, but he refused to believe that he could be falling for Yugi.

_No, I can't let that happen_, he would think to himself. _Love will only destroy you, I can't let these feeling for Yugi get out of hand. _

But it was too late, for they already had. Yami was just too stubborn to admit it. Fighting off these feeling he had for Yugi however was very strenuous, and his persistence in the matter was wearing thin. Just how long would he be able to push away his feelings before he realised he was already head over heels? He was too afraid to think about it. He didn't want to get hurt again, but feeling this way towards someone reminded him of how wonderful love was. _No, I am not in love!_

He could almost hear a nagging voice in the back of his head disagreeing with every thought he had. He thought he must be going crazy. He looked over to the bookshelf that sat next to the TV cabinet. Sitting on top of the small structure, was a photo of Joey, Yugi and himself that they had taken while they were at the hotel. The three of them were smiling brightly as they had their arms over each other's shoulders. Yami remembered that they had just finished laughing over Joey's impression of Seto Kaiba, the billionaire CEO in charge of Kaiba Corp. Yami looked very happy in the photo as he stood next to a grinning Yugi, his arm lightly slung around the boy's shoulders. Yami simply stared at the photo, admiring Yugi's smile. It was that smile and bright attitude that had helped him get over his ex girlfriend, and he would forever be grateful for Yugi's efforts.

It was also that night of which the photo was taken that Yami had opened up to Yugi about bottling all of his emotions up, as he tried to get over Briana, but in doing that it almost destroyed him. He thought back to the night, how encouraging and supportive Yugi had been. Well, Yugi has always been like that, and Yami couldn't ask for a better friend. Thinking of the word friendship, Yami silently wished that they could have something more. _Even if I was in love with him-which I'm not-I would never have the guts to make the first move_, he thought to himself. Although he knew that Yugi was interested in men, he was far too scared to act on those feelings because it seemed like a whole new game compared to what he was used to. The idea of making the first move made him more nervous than any girl ever had. He told himself that it was because he'd never had feelings for another male before, and therefore it was better to stay quiet about it. Anyway, just because Yugi was interested in men didn't mean that he would automatically feel the same way.

Yami stared at the version of himself that was frozen in time. "Don't look at me like that," he said, pointing at the photo with a glare. "I know what you're going to say. And no, I am not in lo-"

He was interrupted when his phone started vibrating in his pocket, blaring out a familiar tune that he recognised as his ringtone. He finished glaring at the photo to pull his phone out of his pocket, and his heart fluttered when he looked at the caller.

_Damn these god damn feelings_, he thought to himself, before he answered the phone. "Hey Yugi," he said with an even voice. "What's up?"

"Yami," Yugi said cheerfully through the phone, "Are you still up for the movies tomorrow?" Yami was relieved to hear the sound of Yugi's voice again, although it had only been a day since they had seen each other. He mentally cursed at himself for being so pathetic.

"Of course," he replied, "I've been waiting for Fast and Furious 6 for ages!" he said eagerly.

Yugi laughed on the other end, "Sweet, I'll meet you at yours tomorrow morning then?"

"Sounds good," Yami said with a grin.

"Awesome," Yugi said, "Well I should probably start closing up the game shop," he said, he had only intended it to be a quick conversation considering what he had to do tonight.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come help close up?" Yami asked. He had helped Yugi many times before, as it made the job twice as fast.

"No, no, it's fine," Yugi said a little too fast. "I can do it fine on my own." This surprised Yami. Normally Yugi would be happy for Yami to help him, he'd never turned down an offer like that before, even if Yami was just suggesting company. This evening however, Yugi seemed quite insistent that Yami not come over, for whatever reason. He was quite confused. Maybe it had something to do with whatever he was hiding? Yami knew for a fact that Yugi had been quite stressed lately, but Yugi had just brushed it off whenever Yami mentioned it, saying that managing the game shop was just a bit demanding. Though it may be true, Yugi seemed very concerned with how much money the Game Shop was earning him each day. Yami had voiced his concern to Joey, who explained that Yugi had never bothered about the game shop's earnings before, and seems Yugi had already paid for his grandpa's operation, Yami couldn't understand why it was so important.

Yami could hear some rustling on Yugi's end. "Are you sure?" he asked. "You know it's no problem for me to come over," he urged.

"No, don't, it's fine," Yugi said, much to Yami's suspicion. Yami then heard Yugi gasp.

"What's the matter?" Yami asked, sitting up.

"It's gone," Yugi breathed, though it was meant to be to himself, he had temporarily forgotten that he was on the phone.

"What's gone?" Yami asked, becoming worried about Yugi's behaviour. The boy didn't answer him however and all Yami heard on the other end was the sound of things being thrown around, followed by some very colourful language. "Yugi, what's going on?" he asked. "Is everything alright?"

Yugi now sounded beyond stressed, and Yami heard his rasped breathing as the boy put the phone back up to his ear, "I have to go," he said, sounding like he was in a rush.

"Wait a minute," Yami said, trying to keep Yugi on the phone so he could get some answers. "What's going on? Why are you so stressed?"

"I can't tell you," Yugi replied, sounding very nervous, still throwing things around.  
"Please Yugi," Yami begged, "I can help you." Yugi literally had him on the edge of his seat, now filled with worry for his friend.

"No, you can't," Yugi said. "Just stay at home, I'll be fine," Yugi said forcefully. Yami wasn't sure what to say to that, it was the most dominant Yugi had ever sounded, as if what he said was final and nothing could change his mind. Yami was still determined to figure this out though. Before he could reply, he heard a loud banging on Yugi's front door through the phone. Yugi let out a shriek and dropped the phone in surprise, and all Yami heard was a crash as the phone hit the ground.

"Yugi?!" Yami cried into the phone. "Yugi are you alright?" He heard the sound of more things being knocked over then. "Yugi I'm-"

Yami was cut off as Yugi picked up the phone again, sounding almost terrified but still forceful at the same time, "stay at home Yami. I'll be fine, and I'll explain everything later." With that, he hung up. Yami was left staring open mouthed at the space in front of him as he heard the beeping in his ear indicating that the other end had hung up. Without a second thought, Yami stood up and grabbed his keys before running to the door and bursting out into the brisk, evening breeze.

The words that Yami would have said in their conversation had Yugi not interrupted him floated through his head.

_Yugi, I'm coming over, hang in there._

* * *

:O oh no! what's happening?

You'll find out next chapter ;)

also, we are verrrrry close to the end, my friends. But you will not be disappointed!

A lot of your guesses about Yugi's secret are preeeetty close though. Damn you all and your smartness. Or maybe I didn't hide it well enough. Oh well, you'll find out next chapter anyway :D

Also! I'm going to be holding a yugioh one shot contest, where the idea is that the writers pick a picture/song/quote and write a story inspired by it XD if you're interested, follow this link...

pharaohsthrone. tumblr post/53738413873/i-am-hosting-a-yu-gi-oh-one-shot- contest-d

and if you're still interested after reading that, send me a PM and we can get this show on the road!

Anyway, I've also started writing my other story idea that mentioned a few weeks ago involving Yami, Kaiba and an OC, it's called Back and Forth and you can find it on my profile :) go check it out!

Anyway, i think that's enough rambling from me, i hop you enjoyed the chapter!

PharaohsThrone :)


	19. Chapter 19 - Time's Up

**Chapter 19 - Time's Up**

Slowly and carefully, Yugi reached a shaking hand towards the door handle, and with an audible gulp, he opened the front door the smallest inch to see who it was that was outside.

"Why hello there little Yugi," Allister said with a wicked grin. Yugi wasn't very scared of Allister like he was the rest of the gang. Allister was merely a piece of gum on their shoes, their messenger and little rookie to boss around. Yugi let out a relieved breath. "I believe you have something for me," Allister said, holding his hand out expectantly.

Yugi started sweating again when he realised why he had been so terrified in the first place, "Um, yes. Well, about that..." he scratched the back of his neck with a shaking hand, trying to figure out how to say it.

Allister stepped back in mock surprise, "Are you trying to tell me you don't have it?" he asked.

Yugi nervously fiddled with the phone in his hands, "well, it's kind of a long story-"

Allister interrupted him, "I don't have time for stories runt, do you have it or not?" he demanded.

Yugi sighed, dropping his head, "No, I don't," he said, before quickly adding, "But I did! I had all of it I swear! But it's gone missing!" He looked up at Allister with pleading eyes, "please give me another chance! I just need a little more time and I'll get it all for you! More if you need!" he begged the taller boy.

"Sorry Yugi," Allister said with a displeasing look, "We already gave you more time. And time is up." Yugi's face turned from a pleading look to one of sheer horror. He knew what would happen next. "And you know what that means," Allister sang as he turned to leave. "You're going to have more than one hospital bill to pay soon, runt," Allister said over his shoulder as he walked away, a wicked grin on his face. Yugi could hear the boy's laughter in the distance even after he closed the door, locking it tightly. Yugi stared at the empty space in front of him, feeling nothing but sheer terror. If he didn't find what they wanted soon, he was done for.

Yami cursed as he ran out into the street, realising that his car wasn't there. He had forgotten that it was currently at the auto shop getting the air conditioning fixed. He let out a frustrated noise before he turned and ran down the street. His stylish formal shoes tapped on the concrete path vigorously as he ran, and as he felt the cool night air whip past him, he wished he had stopped to think about grabbing a jacket. These thoughts were only in his mind temporarily though, as his concern for Yugi set in once again. He picked up his pace, hoping that the usual 10 minute walk to Yugi's house was much shorter at the pace he was currently running at. He ran across several intersections, ignoring the red pedestrian sign and only just missing being cleaned up by incoming traffic. His heart was beating heavily in his chest, and he wasn't sure if it was from almost being potentially killed moments ago or from his worry over Yugi. Or it could just be the vigorous running, he wasn't sure. Within minutes, he saw the game shop sign sticking up in the distance, despite how dark it had become outside, and he picked up his pace again, sprinting towards the house.

Yami hoped that Yugi hadn't gotten himself in any kind of serious trouble, but he had sounded almost terrified on the phone. Yami clenched his fists as he ran down the street towards the game shop, hating the idea that his friend was in such a state. And Yugi hadn't told him a thing. Yami finally closed in on the game shop, and skidded to a stop in front of the door, peering inside to see if he could see Yugi. He couldn't see anything, so he tried the door. Locked. Yami resorted to banging on the door, calling out for Yugi to let him in. Unfortunately though, there was no reply. With a frustrated growl Yami stepped back, trying to think of another way into the house. He ran around the outside of the building until he was standing below Yugi's bedroom. The window was wide open.

While wishing he had been wearing more suitable shoes, Yami approached the air conditioning unit sitting against the wall of the house. He jumped on top of it, and pulled himself up onto the roof of the first level. Without a second thought, he made his way across the roof to Yugi's bedroom window and attempted to climb in. On his way in however, his foot caught on the window, and he practically tumbled into Yugi's bedroom, knocking over the lamp was next to the window. Yami groaned as he tried to gather himself up, and he could hear heavy foot steps running through the house, and the sound of various things being moved from their places. He could only faintly hear the voice that he cherished so much.

"No, no, no, no, where is it?!" the boy sounded more distressed than Yami could ever imagine. Yugi was always so happy and carefree, so what was it that had him so on edge? Yami stood up again, but instead of needing to go look for Yugi, the boy found him first. He ran into the room, looking disheveled and petrified. Sweat was dripping from his forehead as he had a look of such anxiousness. Yami just wanted to hug him and tell him that everything would be okay. But Yami had to know what was going on before he could say it would all be fine.

When Yugi noticed Yami he almost jumped out of his skin, "Yami!" the boy shrieked, skidding to a halt in front of the man. He looked even more paranoid now, "What are you doing here?!"

"Yugi, I was worried about you," he said, walking over to the boy with a look of concern.

Yugi stepped back from him, "You can't be here!" he said. "You must leave!" Yami had never seen such a hurtful expression on the boy's face, and in that second he thought to himself, _this is why love destroys you, Yugi's just going to push me away_. He stayed persistent though, determined to figure out what was going on.

"Yugi, I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong," he said, taking another step towards the boy. Yugi was in the worst state that Yami had ever seen, but he still looked just as amazing in the man's eyes. Yugi was now backed into a corner of his bedroom, as Yami tried to get closer to try and comfort him.

_No, this can't happen,_ Yugi thought, _Yami needs to get out of here, I never wanted him to be dragged into this too!_ "I'll explain it all to you later," Yugi said, pressing himself against the wall, "just please leave!"

Yugi's words hurt Yami, but his determination to help the boy was just as strong as ever. He took another step towards Yugi, with a careful hand out, and in that moment Yugi made a run for it, attempting to escape from his bedroom. Yami was quicker however, and he managed to grab Yugi's arm before he could make it out of the room. Yugi let out a yelp of frustration and struggled against Yami's grip. Yami was too strong however, and he pulled Yugi towards him, wrapping his arms around the boy's waist from behind.

Yugi struggled against the art of him that wanted to melt into Yami's arms, and he squirmed in the man's grip. "Please, let me go," Yugi begged, "I need to do this on my own." As he grew tired, his tries to get away became more and more half hearted. Yugi sighed, slumping his shoulders and dropping his head, at a last attempt to get through to Yami. "I can't let you get dragged into this too..." he said.

Yami leaned forward to speak gently into the boy's ear, "Yugi, you're my best friend, I can't stand seeing you so distressed. You've done so much for me over the past couple of months, now let me do something for you. Please, let me help you."

Yugi shivered at the feeling of Yami's lips so close to his ear, but he just sighed in defeat. "It's too late Yami," he said miserably, "There's nothing you can do to help me now..."

Yami was confused, "What do you mean it's too late?" he asked, tightening his arms around Yugi protectively.

"I mean that any second now, there's going to be-" Yugi was cut off by a rapid banging on the front door. He sucked in a ragged breath, and Yami felt him tense. "They're here," he breathed, sweat dripping down his forehead.

"Who's here?" Yami asked, "What's going on?"

Yugi tried to get out of Yami's arms again, "If you have any sort of sense Yami, you will run. Now."

* * *

BAM!

I'm sure you all know what this is about by now but if you don't, i apologise for saying that it was revealed in this chapter, please forgive me! D:

anyway, there should only be one more chapter for this story, so hang onto your seats :D and i hope you enjoy the feels :P

let me know what you think!

PharaohsThrone :)


	20. Chapter 20 - Escaping The Inevitable

**Chapter 20 - Escaping The Inevitable**

The obnoxious banging on the front door grew louder and more rapid, and Yami could hear a few strong male voices calling out from outside.

"We know you're in there Yugi!" one of them called out.

"There's no point in ignoring us!" another one hollered.

Then there was an incredibly deep and menacing voice that spoke. "We'll bust this door down and get our payment one way or another you little runt." Yugi squirmed in Yami's grip, sweat dripping from his forehead as his anxiety rose. Yami could feel the boy trembling, and there was no way he was going to leave Yugi there. Yami loosened his arms from around the boy's waist, and grabbed his hand instead, tugging on it as he headed for the window.

"Yami, what are you doing?" Yugi asked with an anxious voice, as ragged breaths came from his lungs.

"We're both running," he said with finality, still heading for the window with Yugi struggling against him.

"But-" Yugi went to protest, but Yami stopped abruptly and turned to face the boy. As Yugi looked up into Yami's eyes, he saw nothing but dead concern, and his stomach twisted at the thought of going against Yami's wishes. He had to make sure that Yami got out of there and he stayed to face his punishment. It was the only option.

"Yugi, please hear me out," Yami begged, his eyes boring into Yugi's. "I am not leaving you. If you stay here, who knows what's going to happen?" he thought for a moment, and then added, "Hell, I don't even know what's going on to even _guess_ what would happen!"

"But-"

"Yugi listen to me!" Yami said, the anxiety in his own voice now surfacing. He still held Yugi's hand tightly in his, and he couldn't even enjoy the feeling of their hands together, given their current situation. "I..." He realised what he had been about to say, and foolishly scolded himself for almost making such a slip up. He quickly recovered, "I care about you, Yugi. And I am going to do whatever I can to help you, which right now is getting you out of here and away from those creeps!" He stared at Yugi with pleading eyes, and Yugi was snapped out of his trance when more loud bangs came from the front door. He jumped, and instinctively moved closer to Yami, as he gave up his stubborn endeavor to make Yami leave. Besides, Yugi didn't want him to go at all, he was absolutely terrified. Taking this as a good sign, Yami wrapped a set of protective arms around Yugi, as the boy took security in Yami's chest.

Still trembling, Yugi closed his hand into a fist in an attempt to cease the rapid movement. "Let's get out of here," he managed to say. Yami wasted no more time, and released Yugi so he could grab the boy's hand again and pull him towards the window. Yugi carefully climbed out and onto the roof, with Yami following cautiously. They quietly made their way across the roof until they were at the edge that sat above the air conditioning unit. Yami helped Yugi climb down onto it, and as Yami made his way down Yugi jumped down onto the pavement. They could still hear the men around the corner at Yugi's front door, and he nervously jumped from foot to foot as he waited for Yami. The sound of those creeps only just around the corner made his anxiety rise even more.

Yami finally jumped down, and gave Yugi's shoulder a reassuring squeeze, before they both took off down the street. Yami's expensive shoes were still making far too much noise for his liking, and as they both ran, unaware of where they were going, Yami decided to try and get some answers again.

"Now could you please tell me what this is all about?" he asked as the ran side by side down the footpath.

A look of shame passed over Yugi's features-or so Yami thought, he couldn't entirely tell because they were running. The boy then gulped and decided to answer. "I didn't have the money to pay for Grandpa's operation," he blurted, breathing heavily as he ran. "So I made a deal with those men."

Yami had to restrain himself from stopping dead in his tracks, "You mean you loaned money from a bunch of thugs?!" he said, raising his voice He then realised that was the worst thing he could have done, and he mentally scolded himself. Yugi was already in enough stress as it was, he didn't need Yami getting angry at him as well. Yugi winced at Yami's words, and the taller man decided they had run far enough for the moment. He pulled Yugi into a small side street, and stopped, crouching over to try and regain his breath. Yugi did the same, leaning back against one of the brick buildings. He looked to Yami with a nervous expression, waiting to receive a lecture about what a bad decision he had made. Instead, once Yami regained his breath, he placed both his hands on Yugi's shoulders, giving him an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you," he said, lowering his voice. "I just...I never would have expected that you would get yourself into such a mess," he admitted.

Yugi shrunk back against the wall, wrapping his arms around himself, "It was the only option I had..." he murmured. "Grandpa needed that money or he would never be able to walk again!" Yugi looked to the ground, wishing that he had never gotten himself into such a mess. What was worse, was that he had earned all of the money that he needed to pay them back, but it had disappeared. He had almost been in the clear, but now he was done for.

"I understand that, Yugi," Yami said. "But I could have leant you that money, had you asked." Yami looked Yugi straight in the eye, but the boy refused to look at him, his eyes averted to the ground.

Yugi shook his head, "I made the deal the night that I met you," he explained, "I'd already made up my mind."

Yami sighed, remembering how grateful he was that Yugi had found him that night. He then squeezed Yugi's shoulders reassuringly. "Don't worry, we'll get you out of this," he said. He then stood up straight again, and asked curiously, "Do you mind telling me exactly how much money you borrowed?" Yugi looked at the ground again and mumbled something, but Yami still understood what he had said. "Three thousand dollars?" Yami said, trying not to raise his voice again. Yugi nodded. Yami sighed and stepped back, _well, the health system here is pretty expensive if you don't have private health insurance,_ he thought reasonably. Still, $3000 was a lot for a teenage boy to gather up all by himself.

Yami suddenly snapped back to reality when he realised that they were probably currently being pursued. "Come on, we have to keep moving," he said, trying to sound calm. Yugi nodded, and stood up again, before they both took off down the small side street, feeling more secure than they had on the main road. Truth was, Yami was far from calm. He had no idea where they were going or how they were going to evade these guys. They were obviously good at tracking people down, otherwise they wouldn't have so willingly leant Yugi all that money. He also assumed that the consequence for not returning the money was not very pretty. He didn't want to find out what that was. They thought they could hear some voices calling out from around the corner, but it could have been anybody. Never the less, Yugi and Yami both picked up their pace, as both their hearts started beating rapidly in their chests. They couldn't out run these guys forever. They needed a plan.

Yami face palmed, _Joey!_ He thought that maybe they could run to Joey's house and hide out there for a while, but he cursed when he realised they had been running in the complete opposite direction to Joey's residence. They turned another corner into a small alleyway, hoping that it would shelter them from the wide open streets.

"Yami," Yugi said breathlessly as he ran beside the man, "where are we going?" he asked nervously.

Yami shook his head, looking more stressed than ever. "I have no idea, to be honest," he admitted, his ragged breaths only growing in pace. This was why Yugi didn't want him to get involved, after everything he's been through in the past couple of months this was the last thing he needed. Yugi felt a pang of guilt as he thought about all the pressure Yami must be under right now. Sure, Yugi was completely petrified by this point, and he guessed Yami was also, but if he hadn't have lost the money he could have gotten out of this mess and neither of them would have needed to suffer. They could hear those voices behind them again, and Yugi suddenly had a look of horror on his face as he sprinted ahead of Yami, recognising one of the voices.

"That's them!" he called back to Yami, now in a wave of panic. Yami ran and caught up to Yugi, grabbing the boy's arm and yanking him into another smaller alley way, hoping to throw their perusers off course. It was so dark in the small space that they almost couldn't see. It was only about three meters wide, and Yami and Yugi skidded to a halt when they realised there was a brick wall now blocking their path. It had been so dark that they didn't see that this was a dead end.

"Shit!" Yami cursed, spinning around. They could hear the men's voices in the distance growing closer, and they stared towards the entrance to the alley, hoping like hell the group walked straight past.

"What do we do, Yami?" Yugi asked, grabbing onto the man's arm.

"Whatever we have to," he said, his voice now strong and bold. Yugi then heard the footsteps coming closer, and his breath caught in his throat. There, standing at the entrance to the alley, were three figures. Yugi noticed moonlight flood into the alley, as the clouds that had been covering it moved aside. He felt Yami tense beside him, and looked up to the man, to see his expression was one of stone cold seriousness, as he stared at the three figures, who were now materialising into men as they slowly walked into the alley, wicked smirks on their faces.

Yami stepped in front of Yugi protectively. "What do you want from us?" he demanded in a booming voice.

The man in the middle just smirked even more, moving his gaze to Yugi who was standing just behind Yami. "Why little Yugi, try to hire a body guard did we?" he said in a mocking voice. He clicked his tongue, shaking his head as he spoke, "You know you can't run from us." The three of them grew closer, until they were only just over a meter away from the two boys. The man in the middle-obviously the leader of the group-smirked at Yami. "Your friend owes us payment," he said, enunciating each word carefully. Yugi had managed to stop himself from trembling, and he stepped forwards to stand in front of Yami, trying to use the other's courage as his own.

"Yugi, what are you-" Yami had started to say, reaching out to pull the boy back. Yugi interrupted him however.

"He's right, Yami," Yugi said, not turning to look at him. "I failed to keep my end of the bargain, so I have to accept the consequences," he said, sounding defeated.

"But Yugi-"

"Glad to know that we see eye to eye," the man said, grinning wickedly at Yugi. "Boys-"

"Wait!" Yami shouted, darting in front of Yugi. He held a protective arm in front of the boy, glaring daggers at the three men. "Whatever Yugi's consequence, let me take his place."

* * *

Okay, i know i said this would be the last chapter, but it turned out being reeeeeaaaaaaallly long, so I've split it in two :P but don't worry, you won't have to wait, i'm going to post the last chapter right after this one, so don't fret your little heads :)

Hope you're liking the drama!

PharaohsThrone :)


	21. Chapter 21 - Hearts Collide

**Chapter 21 - Hearts Collide**

"What?!" Yugi said, staring at Yami in horror. Yami didn't turn to look at him, only kept his intense stare with the leader of the group, who was looking quite amused by this point.

"So you're telling me that you would rather pay the price for your friend's mistake?" he asked, a smirk still plastered on his face.

"Yes." Yami spoke confidently. "Whatever Yugi owes, I will pay. As long as you do not harm him whatsoever." Yugi went to protest, but Yami grabbed him by the shoulders, whispering so only the boy could hear him, "let me help you," he pleaded, staring straight at Yugi. He would do anything to make sure that Yugi was out of harm's way. Yugi couldn't find his voice to answer, and before either of them could do anything else, the two were pulled apart.

"Yami!" Yugi called out, struggling as strong arms pulled him back. The two thugs had grabbed them both, and Yami was being restrained by the other as Yugi kicked and thrashed around in front of him.

"Yugi!" Yami said, alarmed, "What are you doing?!" he demanded from the men.

"We accept your offer, stranger," the leading man said with a smirk, having not moved a muscle. He turned to Yugi, who was now next to him, being held back by one of the thugs. "No harm shall come to your friend, should he keep still," he continued. He then gave Yugi a menacing smile, "and your restraint was simply a precaution, nothing personal I hope." Yugi just glared at him.

"You wanted to take the boy's punishment," the man restraining Yami growled in his ear. "Well you're going to get it." Before Yami could understand what was happening, he felt a powerful force hit his gut, and he doubled over in pain, his breath having been knocked out of him. The man had let go of him to deliver his punishment, and Yami just stared wide eyed at the ground from the surprise of the punch.

Yugi struggled as the other man held him back, "No! Stop it! Don't hurt him!" he cried.

"A deal is a deal," the man standing next to him said, before he turned with a smirk, back to Yami who was trying to regain his breath after being winded. "Go ahead," he said.

Yami barely had time to prepare himself for the onslaught of abuse he was dealt in the next moment. The man started delivering powerful punches to his jaw, gut and various other places. The force pushed him back against the brick wall that was behind him. He would have been knocked off his feet had the wall not been behind him. He cried out as each painful punch was delivered, and his head was smacked against the wall as he was punched in the jaw again. His vision became blurry as his head throbbed, and his natural instinct was to curl into a ball as the entire top half of his body ached with pain. He wasn't able to do that though, for the man continued his onslaught of pain without pause. He could vaguely hear Yugi calling out, but he was too over come with pain to be able to focus on the sound of the boy's voice.

"Fight back!" Yugi called out to him, "Yami, fight back!" it was no use though, Yami just leant there against the wall as the man beat him senseless. Yugi couldn't bare to watch, as Yami's cries echoed in his ears. The person he cared most about was now being brutally bashed in front of him, and it was all his fault. He had never felt worse than he did in that moment.

The man finally delivered what felt like a finishing punch to the side of Yami's jaw, causing him to stumble sideways and collapse on the hard bitumen. All he knew by now was that the world was spinning around him as he was overcome by pain, and he could taste blood in his mouth.

Yugi squirmed even more in the other man's grip, "Please! Stop this!" he begged, looking beyond distressed. "Stop hurting him!" The man standing beside him simply grinned, and commented on how amusing it was to watch. Yugi glared daggers at him.

"Oi," the other man grunted down at Yami, who was lying on the hard ground, wincing in pain. "I'm not done with you yet," he said. Yami didn't respond, squeezing his eyes shut and wishing for it to all be over soon. "Get up, scum," the man demanded. Yami didn't move, he couldn't. He was too overcome with pain to be able to sit up, let alone stand up. The man made a frustrated noise, before he started kicking Yami instead. The defenseless man let out more cries of pain as he curled up on the ground, unable to shield himself from the onslaught of abuse.

Tears were now forming in Yugi's eyes as he watched, it broke his heart to see Yami so brutally abused. He squeezed his eyes shut, once again begging for them to stop, but none of the men paid any attention to him. He couldn't keep his eyes shut for long though, he had to open them once again only to see Yami continue to writhe in pain on the ground as the man kicked him viciously. Yugi couldn't take this visual torture anymore, and with as much force as he could conjure up, he threw himself backwards into the man who was holding him. The man was caught off guard, and he stumbled back, loosening his grip on the boy. Yugi took this chance to break free from his hold, and he ran towards Yami. Yugi reached the man brutally bashing him, and pushed him off of Yami, before standing in front of his friend protectively.

"Stop it!" he demanded, "Stop this madness!" he glared daggers at the three men who were staring at him now, surprised at his outburst. "I won't let you hurt him any more!" he said, narrowing his eyes at the thee men. The three just looked at each other, before the one who had been harming Yami stepped forwards.

"Well, seems you don't want to co-operate, you'll just have to receive the same punishment," he said, cracking his knuckles. Yugi's heart started beating rapidly in his chest as the man towered over him. He then heard Yami weakly say his name, and he turned to look down at the man who was sprawled on the ground. His heart ached at the sight. The large man took Yugi's distraction as an opportunity to throw his fist at the boy's face. Yugi cried out as it threw him backwards, and he skidded to the ground, clutching his face where he had been punched. He stared up in horror as the man approached him, towering over him as he laid on his back, resting on his elbows. He squeezed his eyes shut and tensed up, waiting for the brutal attack.

But it never came.

Yugi looked up in confusion, and noticed the three men were all looking at each other, listening carefully to something. He then heard a siren in the distance. The men quickly conferred with each other for a moment, before deciding that staying there was not an option, and they took off, disappearing from sight. Yugi sat up, staring after them with a baffled but relieved expression. He looked over to Yami, who was still sprawled on the ground a few meters away.

"Yami!" he jumped up and ran over to him, kneeling next to the man. He was covered in bruises, along with various scratches and cuts, and his once stylish clothing was now torn and ruined. He looked the worst that Yugi could ever imagine, but he still looked just as beautiful as always. Yugi carefully rolled Yami onto his back, and he was given a wince in reply from the man. Yugi looked down at his battered and bruised friend. "Are you alright?" he asked, the look on his face nothing but terrified concern.

Yami attempted a reassuring smile, but he winced instead. His lip was split, and it caused more blood to trickle down his chin. "I'll be fine," he croaked, looking up at Yugi.

Yugi was overcome with guilt, all of this was his fault. He dropped his head onto Yami's chest, fighting back tears of regret. "I'm so sorry Yami," he said, clenching his fists. "I never told you about this because I was afraid that this would happen. I never wanted you to get hurt." He lifted his head up to look at Yami, and he mentally cursed as a tear ran down his cheek.

Despite the pain he was in, Yami lifted up a hand to gently wipe it away, "Your safety means more to me than anything," he said, looking up at Yugi. "I'd happily do it again without question." The boy's heart soared, but he couldn't understand how someone could go through such physical pain just for him.

"But why did you do it?" Yugi asked, staring down at Yami in disbelief. "Why did you sacrifice yourself for me? You did nothing to deserve this," he said, more tears escaping his eyes.

It took only a millisecond for Yami to know his answer to this question. And he wasn't sure if the sense had been knocked out of him, or if some guts had been knocked into him. Because as he looked up at Yugi, he knew he wanted to speak nothing but complete honesty.

He attempted a shrug, and looked Yugi straight in the eye. "I do crazy things when I'm in love." His cheeks turned red, and he mentally cursed at himself, waiting for Yugi's response nervously.

It took a moment for Yami's words to sink in, and Yugi just stared down at him in amazement. He couldn't believe the words that had just come out of Yami's mouth, for they were the words that he had only dreamed of hearing. Yugi couldn't find his voice though, and so he responded in the only way that he could. He leaned down, beaming from ear to ear, and pressed his lips against Yami's in a soft, gentle kiss. Yami shivered beneath him, as the feel of Yugi's lips felt nothing but amazing. He hadn't expected this kind of response, but he didn't complain, as he wrapped his arms around Yugi's waist to pull the boy closer. Yugi, not wanting to hurt Yami because of the state he was in, simply hovered over him, as their lips moved together, sending shivers down his spine. Yami was overcome with ecstasy, as Yugi's gentle touch numbed the physical pain he was feeling. That was the last thing he was thinking of right now, all he could think of was how amazing Yugi's lips felt against his, and his heart beat rapidly in his chest from the excitement.

Yugi deepened the kiss as his hand slid down Yami's arm, searching for his hand. Yami understood instantly, and happily linked hands with the boy, as their fingers intertwined with each other. Yami had never felt as happy as he did in that moment, and all the nagging thoughts he had had previously about falling in love were completely washed away as he melted at Yugi's touch, as the boy used his other hand to gently caress Yami's cheek. Yami knew that Yugi was being gentle so that he didn't hurt him, but by this point Yami didn't care, and he wanted Yugi closer. He used his free hand to wrap around Yugi's waist, pulling the boy towards him. Yugi reluctantly let himself be pulled down, as his body weight pressed down on Yami, but the other didn't care. He was simply happy that they were so close, their bodies now pressed together. Yami let out a low moan from his throat as they kissed, never had he had such desire. Yugi chuckled against Yami's lips, and Yami simply pulled him back, kissing him more passionately. Yugi melted into Yami's arms, as Yami's tongue begged for entrance. He happily parted his lips, and they both were overcome with the intense pleasure they received from having such contact with one another.

They stayed like that for several minutes, wrapped in each others embrace as they kissed passionately. It was enough for Yami to ignore the pain he was feeling, for the hole in his heart had been filled. All the heartache he had felt previously was completely gone, and replaced with the love he had for Yugi. He realised how foolish he had been for pushing those feelings away, for now as the two of them kissed, he felt nothing but true happiness.

_Love doesn't destroy you,_ he thought with a sudden realisation, _it can only make you stronger._

* * *

TADA! What you've all been waiting ever so patiently for!

This chapter was very frustrating to write, but I hope you all like the way it turned out, it was a really difficult decision as to how to end this chapter, but i hope this suffices

I'd like to thanks every single one of the reviewers who gave me motivation to keep writing this! You are all amazing! And there will be many more puzzleshipping stories to come! so don't fret ;) there will be more Yami/Yugi action in the future! For now though, feel free to check out my other stories, I'll be focusing more on The Millennium Heart and Back and Forth now, so it'd be great to get some feedback on those!

So thank you all, and I hope you liked reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it :)

Stay classy,

PharaohsThrone :)


	22. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

It seems quite ironic that that had started off being almost the worst night of Yami and Yugi's lives, and ended up being the best. Once the two had been able to untangle themselves from each other, they discovered that Yami didn't have the strength to get up. So they had called Joey to come to the rescue, who carried Yami to his car and Yugi had to explain what happened on the way back to his house. Joey had noticed something going on between the two that had seemed slightly different from normal, and when he enquired about it they both blushed madly. This had caused Joey to almost burst out of his seat (as he was driving) with excitement.

For the next week, Yugi had to nurse Yami back to health, not that either of them minded. Yami's bruises turned delicious colours on his skin, and his black eye looked especially interesting as it healed, but Yugi still thought he looked just as beautiful as ever. It was after Joey's outburst that they had officially started dating, and neither of them could be happier. The only worry they had was of running into those thugs again, but their prayers were answered when they saw that the three had been arrested along with Allister for distributing illegal drugs. So they slept peacefully, curled up together with smiles on their faces.

Yami never came across Briana or Austin again, and he couldn't care less. He was with Yugi, and they were happy together. Although it had caused Yami unbelievable heartache, he was glad that he had walked in on Briana and Austin that night. It had opened his eyes up to the truth, and he also would have never met Yugi had those events never happened. Yami would never forget the night that they had met, and he mentally praised Yugi for his kindness towards a simple stranger. For that stranger was now his boyfriend.

* * *

So i realised that i hadn't really tied up all the loose ends, as i had taken that opportunity for an ending fairly soon, so i figured an epilogue was in order. I hope this answers all of your questions :)

PharaohsThrone :)


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